A Fox's Hope
by NattoLibre
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki wakes up on his 12th birthday. Alone and in his apartment he throws a half-hearted celebration by himself. Making his birthday wish, he continues on with his day. Little does he know, that his hope will change everything. Note: I've set rating to M because I will use whatever colorful language I want.
1. A Wish

**A/N: Welcome to what I hope will be a massive project. This is kind of a feeler chapter, see what y'all think. I really love NaruHina, (read "Hinata's Birthday" its my other fic) and I just felt like the show didn't really do their relationship any justice. SasuSaku was also kinda ignored, unless you read some of the light novels. Please read the end author notes for other important notes.**

**Key (For the whole fanfic):**

_Italics – _Thoughts, Flashbacks

**Bold **– Tailed Beast/Summon animals talking (i.e. Kurama, Gamabunta, etc…)

Underline – Jutsu Name

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, NARUTO: SHIPPUDEN, BORUTO, OR ANY OF THEIR CHARACTERS, THIS FANFIC IS MADE PURELY FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT AND I AM NOT PROFITING OFF OF THIS. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME THANKS.**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Long ago, the village Hidden in the Leaves, was attacked by a monstrous demon fox spirit. The Kyuubi, as it was called, brought upon destruction to the whole village. One shinobi stood up to the fox, he was known as the Yondaime Hokage, and he was one of the greatest heroes of his time. He banished the fox away, sealing it's chakra into a newborn baby, ending his own life and taking the fox with him. He was heralded as the Savior of Konoha, and is revered by shinobi and civilian alike. Truly a great example of the Will of Fire._

* * *

It was October 10th, twelve years had passed since the Kyuubi had attacked Konoha. People mourned, celebrated, cried, laughed, all thanks to the work done by the Yondaime Hokage. The only one who wasn't celebrating or mourning was Naruto Uzumaki.

He woke up early in the morning to his alarm clock and groaned. _Dammit I have to go to school today. Maybe I should skip._ As soon as the thought crossed his mind an extremely angry young man with a topknot of brown hair appeared in his brain, _NAARUUTOOO! IF YOU EVER MISS CLASS AGAIN I WILL FIND YOU AND TIE YOU TO A CHAIR ALL DAY. _Naruto shivered at the thought of his sensei and Academy teacher and devised a plan to get to school.

Normally he wouldn't have to think too hard about how to get to school but this day was… well… different. For some reason, every year, the villagers were extra mean to him on his birthday. While he was used to the glares and the mean comments, he usually never got harmed all too seriously. _Usually._

He remembered when he was younger, probably about 6 or 7, he saw the celebrations and wanted to join in, not really understanding what they were for. He was smiling when he left his house, but a mere three hours later he was sitting in urgent care with multiple broken bones and suffering a serious concussion. From that day, he vowed to never try and celebrate his birthday in public again.

He never really understood what he did to deserve such treatment. Everywhere he went, civilians and shinobi alike would just glare at him, pulling away their children and friends as if to protect them from some disease. He assumed that he had done something before he could remember, or that it might have been something his parents had done. He had never met them but the Sandaime Hokage never told him anything about them. Naruto had asked the man many times about who his parents were and the older man just brushed off the question, saying it wouldn't bring them back.

Naruto had cried after that, he wanted nothing more than to meet his mother and father. He was jealous of how other children went to school with lunches made by their mothers. He was jealous when their parents would come and pick their children up from the park. When he was playing with kids, he forgot about his loneliness, only for it to return as soon as their parents arrived to pick them up. He was left in the shadows of the setting sun, walking home all by himself.

Seeing the other children with their parents tore at Naruto's heart. In his mind, he would always imagine what he thought his parents would be like, right now he was caught in one of those reveries.

* * *

_He was sitting at a breakfast table, patiently waiting. The cause for his patience came around the corner and smiled at him, "Hey champ! Good morning!" His father said, eyes crinkling into a smile. Naruto returned with an even larger smile. _

_His father was a tall man, lean yet well-muscled from his countless years of training. On his head were spikes of light brown hair, with a texture similar to Naruto's, and he gazed at his son with loving, green eyes. Everyone told Naruto that he and his dad looked completely different but were the same child on the inside. Some wondered where Naruto even got his blond hair from, until they saw his mother. _

_Speaking of which, his mother came out of the kitchen, gently carrying a tray of food for the whole family. She was of average height, lean just like his father, however in contrast, her hair was long, smooth, and an almost blinding blonde. The only thing brighter than her hair were her blue eyes which were just like Naruto's._

_"Sorry it took so long, my dear Naruto, but I had to make something special for today." She said in a gentle voice. To Naruto's surprise, there was a small cake made in the shape of a frog. It said 'Happy Birthday Kitsune!' A loving nickname like that would usually be met with groans of embarrassment by boys of his age but Naruto loved and adored anything made by his parents, including the cake._

_"Mom, you MADE this?" He asked incredulously, earning a smile and a soft laugh from his mother. The expression on his face must have been something because even his father threw his head back and howled in laughter. _

Yes, this is nice,_ thought Naruto, and more bitterly, _too bad it can't be real.

* * *

He depressingly brought himself back to the real world as he headed towards the shower. He didn't have the time to feel sorry for himself. Those feelings wouldn't get him anywhere. If there was anything he learned in his twelve years of living, it was that he couldn't wallow too long in self-pity and needed to take action. Besides, it wasn't as if _everyone_ hated him.

His life had gotten a little bit better as of recently, his teacher, Umino Iruka, had taken a liking to him, despite his awful performance in school. He took Naruto to get ramen from time to time and introduced him to what was now Naruto's main source of food. Ichiraku Ramen had become a second home for the two and they spent a lot of time together outside of school because if it. Naruto spent so much time and money there that the shop owner and his daughter, Teuchi-san and Ayame-san, became like family to Naruto. He would lovingly refer to Teuchi as "Old Man Teuchi" and he would refer to Ayame as "Ayame-nee". His small, adopted family was like a safe haven for him.

He pulled on an orange jumpsuit after getting out of the shower. He looked in the mirror at himself and smiled, adjusting the goggles on his head. Something about the color orange did it for him. It was such a happy color, standing out wherever it was placed. It was the color of the burning sun in the sky, screaming for everyone to look at it. To him it represented his desire to stand out from the rest, proving to them that he was worth something. The color matched his blinding smile and his personality, he liked to think.

The color also gave him the strength to put a smile on his face, even when he felt like crying. It may have been strange to others to be this invested in a color, but for Naruto it was the only thing that he had. No matter how many times people made fun of his outfit, the smile that he got from putting it on never faded. He vowed to never part with it as long as the color gave him the strength to keep going.

He got into his kitchen and pulled out his breakfast. Instead of his usual milk and toast, he decided to spoil himself and took out some cookies he dug out of the trash of the next-door supermarket.

He struck a match on the box and stuck it into one of the cookies as a makeshift candle. He closed his eyes and thought about a wish.

_What should I wish for? To be Hokage? Nah I asked for that last year. To see my parents? Maybe not, Old Man Third makes it seem like it isn't that important. To have a family? _He scoffed. _Yeah right, I think everyone in this village would rather die than take me in._ He racked his brain thinking of what to wish for. Then it hit him. Smiling, he closed his eyes and made his wish, hoping more than anything that it would come true.

Blowing out the "candle" he bit into the cookie and started chewing. He instantly made a bitter face and spit it back out. "Oatmeal rasin? Who even thinks of making cookies with those?" He sighed, disappointed. He tried the other cookies to see if he had luck with any other ones. _Of course none of them are the dark chocolate ones I like, everyone else eats them up!_ He sighed and quickly wrapped up his meal and made his way to his door. Before leaving he made a few quick handsigns, "Transformation Jutsu!" he exclaimed.

He transformed into a girl of about his age, wearing simple clothes with muted colors. He looked into the mirror, pleased at his work, nobody would even know it was him. He was quite a master of the Transformation jutsu ever since he used it to pull pranks on some of the more, ah.. _hormonal_ men in the village. He recognized its usefulness for pranks but also in his everyday life. For some reason he would never be welcome in shops or around town. Not to mention the off chance a mob of people that would occasionally chase him around the village.

To deal with this, he put a great amount of effort in training himself in this jutsu. If there was anything he was the best at, it was transformation. He could easily make a perfect copy of anyone from just a single glance.

He looked through his peephole to make sure nobody was outside to see him leave his apartment. Seeing no one, he quietly slipped out the door, locking it and walking down the stairs instead of jumping off the balcony. He was taking very careful notice not to go by any of his usual habits in case someone got suspicious. He was not normally a paranoid person – except where ghosts were involved – but he didn't want to die on the same day he was born.

He walked calmly toward the Academy building, not drawing attention to himself. He was so caught up in his efforts to stay hidden that he didn't notice that he was being watched as he left his apartment.

* * *

_Should I do it? I've put this off for so many years._ A girl thought to herself as she sat on a rooftop. Looking into the window of our resident troublemaker's home.

She looked at the rising sun, noticing the time. _He will be up any second, all I need to do is knock on the door and say, 'Happy Birthday!'. It's not that hard! Get yourself together!_ She took deep breaths and closed her eyes as her heart started beating harder.

Hinata Hyuga was a timid girl, she always had been. She stayed quiet most of the time in the Academy since she didn't want to draw attention to herself, fearing that she might mess up or make someone feel bad. She was also extremely worried about the thoughts of a very specific young blond.

Even though she would never have been able to vocalize it, she had a massive crush on Naruto Uzumaki. The boy had crept into her heart and had complete control over her when he was in her presence. While Hinata would never say it, the rest of their Academy class knew, as well as their teacher. He had figured out in the most embarrassing way.

* * *

_"Okay class, we are taking a quiz!" The students all collectively groaned._

_"Now now, let's not get too down, you _are_ here to learn after all." Iruka said, "I am going to quiz you on some basic Ninja skills. You will have 30 minutes to finish this quiz, when you are done, please flip your paper over and wait for the time to expire."_

_He passed out the quizzes and started the clock. When his back was turned, Naruto looked hopefully at the ceiling._

_SPLAT_

_The class looked up and broke into laughter. Iruka's face was turning red under the paint, his nostrils flared as he screamed at the blond in the back. "NAARUTOO! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW. YOU WILL BE STAYING AFTER CLASS TO CLEAN THIS UP."_

_Naruto beamed and jumped right out the class door, on his way to the principal's office… for the third time that day._

_Iruka grumbled and excused himself to the restroom to wash off and change. Leaving Mizuki in charge. The white-haired chunin stood over the class, emotionless look on his face as his eyes glazed over the classroom. _

_Iruka returned a few minutes later and excused Mizuki and began to pace around the classroom, to make sure students were not cheating. _

_Hinata was quite a smart kunoichi and had some of the best grades in the class. She had already finished, with ten minutes left on the quiz. She had her paper turned over and was doodling in it. She smiled and giggled softly to herself as she looked at her paper._

_She was so busy enjoying herself that she didn't notice Iruka was passing by her and failed to cover up her paper. Iruka looked down and saw hearts surrounding a chibi version of his favorite student. He looked closer and saw another heart and inside it was Naruto and Hinata holding hands, looking into each other's eyes._

My, my, for such a young age she sure has artistic talent. _He thought and immediately froze, recognizing the meaning of the drawings. _She… likes… Naruto?_ His eyes widened as Hinata saw him looking. Her face instantly colored red as she frantically moved to cover the drawing but the expression on her teacher's face told her that the damage had already been done. She immediately passed out from the embarrassment on top of her quiz._

_Iruka just smiled and moved on, everything now making sense. He had always wondered why she kept on stealing glances at Naruto. He had even noticed that she had slowly been moving closer and closer to where he sat._

_When class was dismissed later that day he was approached by a very red and nervous Hinata. _

_"Is there something you need Hinata?" He asked kindly._

_"C-C-C-Could y-you p-p-please n-not m-m-m-mention um… w-what you s-s-saw t-to a-anyone?" She stuttered out, not making eye contact with him._

_"Of course Hinata, it's not my place to tell him." He replied, then adding, "Good luck, you'll need it with him, trust me."_

_At that last comment Hinata smiled and got even more red as she gave him a quick bow and hurried out of the classroom._

* * *

She shook her head to get out of the dream and noticed that Naruto was getting ready to leave. _Oh no, I need to get it to him fast._ She looked down at the parcel she carried.

She had always been giving him gifts on his birthday. Ever since he was put in the hospital a few years back. She felt such incredibly pity for him that she wanted to do whatever she could to make his day better. Later that day she went into a small stand in the market and saw a cute frog wallet that she bought. She took it home and wrapped it with purple wrapping paper, making sure the folds were neat and clean. She then put a cute orange bow on the package with a small note saying, 'Happy Birthday!' with a hand drawn picture of the Hokage faces.

It had taken all of her courage to knock on his door and sprint away as she left the package on his doorstep. She had used her Byagukan to see his reaction and was filled with happiness as she saw his eyes light up with genuine excitement. She had since then committed herself to making him feel happy every year.

Such a boy didn't deserve the treatment he got from the villagers. Hinata had been witness to countless acts of abuse against him by the village. When they first met, bullies had beaten him and thrown him into the snow, leaving him for dead. She noticed the gazes thrown his way and even witnessed some horrific treatment from shopkeepers when he had tried to enter their stores.

Yet none of these compared to what had transpired on his very birthday some years ago.

* * *

_She was out celebrating with her clan. The Hyuga had lost several scouts to the Kyubi's attack and as such, they felt the need to participate in the village celebrations. _

_She remembered walking around with Neji and Ko, they went from stall to stall, playing various carnival games. Neji had approached her, "Hinata-sama, do you want me to win you something from here?" Hinata turned shyly to him, "Oh, Neji-niisan, you don't have to do that…" _

_"Nonsense, it's fitting that I give you a gift, you did buy me dango from that stall earlier" Neji replied, a small grin on his face._

_Hinata blushed, "Oh please… you don't need to trouble yourself with this…"_

_"I think that necklace over there should do." Neji said, turning towards the stall, not waiting for her permission, seeing that he would never get it._

_Hinata had no choice but to follow. Neji made quick work of the carnival game, having already taken on ninja training, he was well coordinated with his movements and easily placed enough rings on bottles to win the necklace. He then gave it to her with one of the last smiles she would see in his face for a long time. _

_"Here you go Hinata-sama, my gift to you" Hinata quietly accepted the gift and looked down at the necklace, it was indeed beautiful. _

_It was a plain silver necklace, surrounded by a flower forged from what looked like gold but was more likely some cheap alloy. It didn't matter to Hinata, it was beautiful. _

_The trio continued to enjoy the festivities until a commotion caught Hinata's attention, being curious she walked over to see a young boy being beaten and getting flung around like a ball among some of the men celebrating. She was horrified but couldn't help but watch. _

_She saw his unconscious body bleed profusely as people kept on kicking him around and jeering. People were even spitting on the boy, saying he was 'good for nothing'. As people were getting for the next round, she caught a glimpse of his face and recognized who the lifeless punching bag was. _

No… not Naruto-kun, no he… he can't be dead… please no…_ The conflicting thoughts inside her stirred the knot in her stomach. She remembered him being the boy who saved her from the bullying, the one who selflessly took the abuse and even smiled to her after. _

_She had wanted to get to know him better but he had already left. Seeing him later at the Academy was a huge relief but she still couldn't bring herself to talk to him. She had no idea what was stopping her but whenever she had laid eyes on the boy her heart rate quickened and some feeling rose in her developing chest. _

_Now that very boy was close to death and by the hand of the very village he grew up in. She was so shocked and paralyzed by fear that she couldn't move. The abuse continued until ANBU showed up and imprisoned those men on the spot. The boy was then rushed to the hospital, and that was when Hinata noticed, he was wearing a self-made sign that said 'Birthday Boy'. _

_Anger developed inside her as she realized that this boy was getting treated so roughly, on his own birthday. Being of the Hyuga clan, she was given lavish celebrations and expensive gifts every year she grew older, yet this boy who was stronger than she could ever be was being treated like trash._

_No, it wasn't right, and she would make sure to make it better for him in the future. _

* * *

Usually she would just fearfully knock on his door and run away, so as not to be seen. She felt guilty about not being able to celebrate but once she figured out why she had that weird feeling in her chest every time she saw him, she couldn't help but be shy.

What was different about this year was the fact that she wanted to give the package to him herself, without running away. She gulped down her fear and faced his apartment. She was about to move but she stopped herself. What if he took the gift the wrong way? What if she messed up? What if he didn't like the gift? She thought to herself.

She always wanted to get closer to the boy, but she had a bad habit of stuttering and blushing furiously around him. The one time he touched her, he was checking to see if she had a fever of some sorts, after which she immediately fainted.

She was still deciding about her gift. She concluded that she _had _to give it to him. She had seen him so lonely throughout their years in the Academy and she wanted him to know that somebody cared. His half-hearted birthday celebration saddened her completely. She wanted so much to bust in and sing Happy Birthday to him, but she couldn't bring herself to it.

However, she had taken too long in deciding and Naruto had already left. She sighed and left his apartment, planning on dropping it at his doorstep later.

* * *

Arriving at the Academy Naruto let go of the transformation, there was no point in trying to fake his identity here. Ninja could tell the difference between and transformation and a real person pretty accurately. He let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding in.

On the way to the Academy he had almost been caught when he was helping a shopkeeper pick up some fruit that he had dropped on the ground.

"Thanks so much dear, your parents much be quite proud of you!" The elderly woman said, kindly smiling.

A shadow immediately crossed Naruto's face as he wanted to scream out that his parents were dead. The shopkeeper noticed and asked, "What's the matter?"

Naruto, flustered, looked up waving his hands, "N-No! Nothing's wrong! I'm all fine, dattebayo!" He mentally cursed himself for saying that last bit at the end.

The woman, stared at him for a little bit, her eyes narrowing. She was about to say something when someone approached her asking for the price of some melons. With her attention captured by the imminent sale, Naruto quickly made it away. _Whew, that was way too close._

The hallways of the Academy were empty, Naruto knew that meant one thing, class had started. He used to not care about coming on time before, Iruka-sensei used to not pay attention to him. Ever since he had nearly gotten killed by enemy ninja Iruka was harder on him. If he was late today Iruka would have his head.

Sprinting to the door, he quietly slid in and snuck to his seat in the back corner of the class. Iruka saw him but continued on with the lecture. _I have a feeling I know why he's late._ He thought with a sad sigh.

Naruto sat down quietly and listened to the lecture, trying to see if it was about anything interesting. Despite his poor performance in the Academy, Naruto was not a terrible student. The problem was with the way he learned. He was not a book-learner and had to learn something by _doing it._ The problem with that was that there were no sensei who would take him in and Iruka had his hands full with his Academy duties.

Naruto had developed a skill in which he could listen to a lecture, but not really pay attention to it either. This was extremely helpful when Iruka was talking about boring stuff like history or genjutsu. Naruto could not have cared less for some dusty old relics and genjutsu just seemed plain useless to him. What was the point of creating illusions if they weren't real? While scoping out the topic of the lecture he heard one word that keyed in all of his focus.

"So class, today we will be going over the Hokage and some of their abilities." Iruka said as he pointed out the window to the Great Stone Faces. "As a senior at the academy you will be expected to analyze these jutsus and talk about what they are about. Before Christmas break you will each have to give a presentation on one of the Hokage and his jutsus. I will give you the details of this project later." The class groaned at the mention of another project, Iruka was known to be a hard grader and nobody looked forward to submitting a project only for it to get grading by him.

The only who didn't groan was Naruto.

"We'll get to study the Hokage? YES!" He shouted as he pumped his fist in the air.

Hinata saw his antics and giggled to herself. She thought his obsession with the Hokage was cute, the way he treated other subjects was completely different. Whenever talk about the Hokage started in the class he immediately started paying more attention and thinking harder. _His face when he thinks is so cute._ She smiled.

Although she thought it was cute, she also deeply admired his conviction. He was the bottom of their class and nobody really saw anything special in him. However, he had convinced himself that he would be Hokage, _and he will be the greatest of them all. _Hinata said to herself.

"Oi quiet down Naruto I'm trying to sleep here." The voice came from the notoriously lazy Nara boy. Shikamaru had been hiding behind the dog that was perched on Kiba Inuzuka's head so that Iruka wouldn't notice.

"Shikamaru, you're always trying to sleep, why do you think we have the night?" Naruto shot back.

"Night or day, doesn't matter. I still need to sleep, so please, keep it down." Shikamaru said as he closed his eyes again.

"I'll talk all I want; you should treat the future Hokage with some respect dattebayo!" Naruto smiled pointing at himself.

"Naruto you could never become Hokage! You're such a loser, AND you're the dead-last of this class too" Sakura pointed at Naruto.

"Yeah, you don't even have the skills to be a real ninja! You can't even make a clone! If anyone would be Hokage here its Sasuke-kun!" Ino said, staring dreamily at Sasuke Uchiha.

_God damnit, _Sasuke cursed under his breath _he set them off again. Does he realize how annoying they are?_

"Who him? He's just some quiet emo kid who doesn't talk to anyone, what's so special about him?" Naruto shot back.

The whole class was arguing now, all the students were ganging up on Naruto, telling him he would never be Hokage, that he was a loser, that he was the bottom of the class. Sasuke's fangirls were screaming at the top of their lungs, threatening to beat Naruto up for saying things like that.

Hinata was fuming, _how could they say such things? He is NOT useless, he is a GREAT ninja, he can, and will be the GREATEST HOKAGE YOU HAVE EVER SEEN._ Hinata wanted to scream that out but she just couldn't. She wasn't even sure if she was capable of being heard among all the noise.

Iruka pinched his nose, but then an idea popped into his head, "Well, Ino, why do you think that?".

Ino was taken aback by the sudden questioning by her sensei. "Well, because he's Naruto, duh" Ino said.

"So? Anyone can be Hokage, there aren't any rules saying who can and can't be Hokage. The Yondaime a clan-less orphan, there are no restrictions based on clan or parentage." Iruka stated in a manner-of-fact way.

"Besides, I think you're all being super mean to him for no reason, sure he pranks people but Naruto's a funny guy if you get to know him!" Choji said, suddenly standing next to Shikamaru. He was used to bullying too. Being from the Akimichi clan, Choji naturally possessed a larger physique and was picked on for it. He didn't want other people getting hurt too.

"But, but he can't be Hokage! He has no skills!" Sakura said, "I mean, like Ino-pig said, he can't even make a single clone."

"Well, the clone part I agree on but I think that if we gave everyone in this class time to train, then everyone in here could have a chance at becoming Hokage, even Naruto." Iruka said, giving the blond-haired boy a wink.

Hinata bit her lip and cursed herself. _Yes! Iruka sensei is right! Naruto-kun will be a great Hokage! M-Maybe I should say something too…_ Hinata thought as she pushed her index fingers together.

_Sensei… thinks I could be Hokage?_ Naruto just stared at Iruka in awe. Up until today, he felt Iruka was just saying it to be nice. To hear those words from him, with such conviction, was just unbelievable. His mouth turned up and he was beaming with the largest smile that he had ever put on.

Iruka looked over the class and caught Naruto in his sight once again. The bright smile on his face could have lit up one thousand caves. It even made Iruka break into a wide smile. _That kid, this is the happiest I have ever seen him. _He then turned to his lesson plan, given to him by the Academy, but he immediately scrapped the warm-up exercise.

It had suggested for him to have the students do an activity about the Nine-Tails and how the Yondaime defeated it. Since Naruto was in his class, he decided to skip it. The thought of forcing Naruto in particular to do an activity like that was sickening.

He lectured about the previous 4 Hokage but Naruto couldn't pay attention anymore. Someone had told him that he could be Hokage. _I could be Hokage…_ Naruto said dreamily, picturing himself as the Godaime.

_"Please welcome Konoha's Godaime Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki!"_

_The crowd cheered as Naruto stepped up on the roof of the Hokage building. Standing next to him was his beautiful girlfriend, Sakura. He looked at the village, "Thank you for choosing me as your supreme leader dattebayo! I now declare today, National Prank Day!" _

_As he said it, hundreds of Naruto clones flew through the air, throwing paint on the crowd. Some people were angry, but most just laughed._

_"Wow our Hokage has such a great sense of humor!"_

_"Strong, witty, charming, and funny! We are so lucky to have such a great Hokage!"_

Hinata looked at him and could barely contain her giggle. His eyes were glazed over and his mouth was curved in a perpetual smile. A small line of drool came out of his mouth as he dreamed on. _Oh Naruto.. _She thought as she looked at his face.

* * *

He was snapped out of his reverie when Iruka came to smack him with some papers.

"Ow! What the hell was that for Iruka-sensei?"

"Naruto, I called for lunch break 10 minutes ago and you haven't moved or blinked for an hour." Iruka said to him.

"Sorry, I just…" Naruto looked towards the planks on the floor, littered with pencil shavings, chewing gum, and other things associated with schoolchildren. It was a mess, just like the thoughts swirling around in his head. Though one thing rang out louder than the rest.

_Everyone in here could have a chance at becoming Hokage, even Naruto._

_Naruto could have a chance at becoming Hokage._

_Naruto will become Hokage._

He jumped up and smothered Iruka in a hug. The older chunin stumbled and fell down the steps of the classroom and ended up in an assorted pile of human. Naruto giggling uncontrollably on top of him.

Before he could yell out Naruto said, "Thank you Iruka-sensei! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Naruto was literally jumping for joy as Iruka watched him, frown immediately replaced with a smile.

"Now if you'll excuse me..." Naruto said, turning around "I gotta go!" With that he rushed out of the classroom. Iruka couldn't help but laugh out loud.

* * *

Most of the kids gave him dirty looks when he went out for recess, but he didn't care, he needed to find Choji and thank him for defending him. He knew he was usually around Shikamaru and looked everywhere but couldn't find them. _Where do those two disappear to?_

He gave up on his search and walked around. He noticed the glares he received from his classmates and some passerby and realized that he was once again, alone.

He found his only friend at the edge of the yard. His friend was always there for him, listening to everything he would say. Not like a swing could do anything else. He sat down and looked at the building and all the children playing. Kids were running back and forth, kicking a ball through makeshift goals that were made by using their juice boxes. The girls were all sitting together, following a rather annoyed looking Sasuke around.

He was hit by a wave of anxiety; he heard the voices of the villagers calling him names. _Demon, bastard child, the devil._ He remembered all the parents, telling their own children to bully him and stay away from him. It was anxiety attacks like these that made some of his nights sleepless. These attacks were worse on this day, making him forget everything else and panic. As he looked at his fellow Academy students he just thought, _Why can't I just be like them?_

Tears welled up in his eyes, he didn't need to hide his emotions here. The trees provided enough cover. Besides, nobody paid him any attention, it was like he didn't even exist. It was always like this. Everyone pushed him away. Nobody was nice to him. What was worse about all of it was that he didn't even have anyone waiting at home for him. He wanted to so desperately cry to someone about what was going on. He needed to talk about it, but he learned at a young age that not a lot of people wanted to listen to him, and those that did, simply didn't have enough time.

He avoided coming home because he couldn't stand the isolation. The choking silence of solitude was too much for his heart. He was someone who thrived on social interaction. To get attention, he would pull pranks, so that people would acknowledge him, even if it was negatively.

But, as with earlier this morning, he wasn't as invisible as he thought he was.

Hinata stared at him from beyond the schoolyard. She was pulling out the lunch she had made for herself. She liked eating outside in the fresh air rather than the stuffy Academy lunchroom. She would patiently wait inside until they were dismissed for recess.

She saw him plop down on the swing he always sat on. She stared at him, looking deep into his eyes from afar. She loved those orbs, they were beautiful, endless, timeless, and full of bright happiness. But she knew that while those eyes shone with mirth, that was only just a cover for the deep pit of sadness that lay within them.

She recognized the signs of trauma in his well-practiced mask of happiness. To anyone else, he would seem as an easygoing, happy-go-lucky guy. Hinata knew better, she knew that the sadness he felt was eating away inside him, he had a desire to just be loved by someone, while she was determined to be that someone, she just was much too timid to act on it.

What she saw now was the ocean of sadness coming to the surface as tears slid down his face. That was when she made her decision.

_I can't sit here any longer! No matter what, I have to make him happy! Nobody deserves to cry on their birthday!_ Hinata ordered herself to get up. She took some paces towards where Naruto sat, and her heart began to beat. Faster and faster, until it was all she could hear. She walked right up to him and stopped a foot away from him.

_I-I'm so c-close to him!_ She thought as she tore her eyes off the ground and slowly moved up to his face. He hadn't noticed her approach as he was still staring out sadly at the playing children.

She studied his face and blushed, getting redder and redder. She looked at the whisker markings on his cheeks that were so endearing. The long eyelashes he had that almost made him look feminine. His shock of long, bright hair. What shook her out of it were the tears streaming down his face. She shook her head and cleared her throat.

Naruto didn't say anything. He continued to look out.

She cleared her throat again and called out, "Um… N-Naruto-kun…"

"Huh? What?! Hinata? W-when did you get here?!" He said, jumping up and vigorously wiping his eyes as he smiled.

Hinata's heart was doing somersaults at the sight of his smile but she reminded herself of why she was here.

"I-I-I j-j-j-just w-wanted t-t-to s-s-say um…" Hinata took a breath and cleared her head so that she didn't stutter, "Happy Birthday Naruto-kun"

Naruto's eyes widened and tears threatened to spill out. Someone was wishing him a happy birthday! Someone said 'Happy Birthday' to him! Not only that but a GIRL said it to him too! His day just couldn't get any better.

"Well thanks Hinata-chan!" He said, causing her to nearly faint. _H-H-Hinata… c-c-chan? He c-c-called m-me H-H-Hinata-chan?_ Her face turning the color of a tomato.

"I… um… a-also w-w-wanted to tell you…" She took a deep breath, gathering her courage since her thoughts had already been in place for years, "I…" _can I do it?_ "I t-think that y-you would m-make a great H-Hokage." She screwed her eyes shut so that she couldn't see his reaction, fearing the worst.

It was then that Naruto's eyes lit up even more, his look of shock turning into a smile when he remembered what Iruka said earlier. _Yes, it doesn't matter what the villagers say to me. Iruka-sensei believed in me and so does Hinata-chan!_

"T-Thank you so much… Hin…"

It was then that his stomach let out a mean growl. Now it was his turn to turn red.

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry about that! Guess forgetting your lunch isn't that good of an idea huh."

Hinata's eyes shot up, "W-what? Y-y-you d-didn't eat lunch?" She reached into her pack and brought out her lunch and shakily pushed it to him. "Y-y-you c-can h-have m-m-mine." She offered him.

Naruto's eyes widened, not only did she wish him happy birthday, but she was also offering him her lunch? _There's no way I could take this, she's so small! She needs the food._ "Oh no I couldn't take your food Hinata-chan! It is yours after all." He said, lightly pushing the box back.

"N-n-no i-it's o-o-okay N-N-Naruto-kun, I-I-I'm n-not t-that h-h-hungry." She said pushing the box back.

"You know what? How about we share it?" He said raising his eyebrow. "That way both of us get to eat dattebayo!"

_Me a-and N-Naruto-kun…. S-sharing lunch!? _Hinata's blush that had been receding immediately came back in full force. _Don't you dare faint Hinata!_ She told herself as she got her breathing under control.

Naruto scooted over on the swing and made room for Hinata. With her nervous system short circuiting at everything going on, her brain had to command each limb individually to move on its own. She robotically moved and sat down next to him.

_I'm right next to him, eating from the same plate!_ She started eating, hoping that it would distract her from him being so close. Naruto had tried to make conversation while they were eating but all Hinata could manage were basic gestures and one-word responses. Then she noticed a bee buzzing near his head.

"Um… N-N-Naruto-kun, t-there is a b-b-bee, b-but I'll t-t-take c-care of it!" She activated her Byakugan and aimed a finger strike at the insect.

Only to miss and hit Naruto in the face, and to her horror, knock him out.

Her eyes widened with shock, _Oh no! WHAT DID I DO?! _She frantically rushed around his unconscious body, using her Byakugan to reopen the tenketsu that she accidentally closed.

* * *

_Wow that dream was nice… Hinata-chan actually shared her lunch with me. That was nice of her, well, time to wake up… hey why is someone touching me?!_

Naruto's eyes shot open as he jumped up and quickly scanned his surroundings, his fight-or-flight response triggering. He instinctively grabbed a kunai he kept in his pocket for self-defense. Years of being harassed had drilled into his brain that if _anyone_ was touching him, especially while he was asleep, it almost always signaled something bad.

Hinata gasped and fell back on her butt from his sudden outburst.

Quickly taking into account what was going on, and putting all the puzzle pieces Naruto shook off the effects of the Gentle Fist as he recollected all his memories until…

"Geez Hinata-chan, you sure pack quite the punch!" He said, smiling a bit awkwardly.

She immediately turned red and held her hands to her chest, "I-I'm s-s-sorry a-about t-that…" She apologized softly, earning a laugh from Naruto. They realized that they still hadn't finished their lunch when Naruto's stomach growled and they continued their meal. This time in silence.

They ate until recess was finished and walked back inside together.

Naruto opened the door and grinned at Hinata as he made a grandiose gesture, "Ladies first"

Hinata giggled at his antics, her face still red from embarrassment, and said her thanks as they walked in. Hinata sat down in her seat and turned to see Naruto putting his stuff down next to her.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked, clearly a bit nervous.

_H-he w-w-wants to s-sit next to m-me?_ Hinata thought. She managed to shake her head from side to side as he plopped his stuff down.

"Thanks for the present by the way Hinata-chan, the food was amazing!" He said smiling at her.

She turned redder and redder, poking her index fingers together. _Do I tell him? Will he think I'm a creep? No, I need to tell him. This is my chance._ Taking a deep breath, she said to him.

"Um… A-A-Actually N-Naruto-kun," He tilted his head to the side, _God he looks so cute_, "t-t-that w-wasn't y-your gift." She said to him.

His smile dropped and he looked at the floor. _Of course she didn't get you a gift, she was just trying to be nice, stop reading too much into stuff dammit._

Seeing his expression her eyes widened and with newfound determination she said, "No! No! That's n-not what I m-meant!" She looked down and said, "I-I meant t-that… I h-h-have a r-r-real g-gift."

He looked at her, shocked. _She already got me a gift? Wait, she KNOWS when my birthday is?_ His smile returned as reached out and pulled her in for a friendly hug.

"You're the best Hinata-chan!"

Poor Hinata couldn't take it anymore, she went limp and her head softly hit the desk and she was able to murmur out, "N-Naruto-kun…..s-s-said…..I'm…the b-best"

Naruto just looked at her puzzled, _Was she really that tired? Maybe she needs to sleep like Shikamaru. Wait! Class is about to start! _He started shaking her to wake her up as the lesson started.

"Hinata-chan? Hinata-chan? Hinata? Hinaaaataaaaaa?" He whispered trying to wake her up.

"If you keep on doing that, she'll pass out again when she wakes up" a deadpan voice said.

Naruto turned and smiled. "Hey Shikamaru and Choji"

The two boys sat down near Naruto. Shikamaru eyed the boy and just chuckled to himself, _He may have potential, but he sure is dense. It would be much too troublesome to explain to him now._

"Hey I needed to tell you something." Naruto said, looking intently at Choji.

"Hm? What's up?" Choji asked.

"I… I just wanted to thank you," Naruto asked, bringing his eyes up.

Choji raised his eyebrows, "For what?"

"Well, for standing up for me! What else?" Naruto said, a bit irritated at the boy's actions.

Choji looked at him and smiled warmly. He then held out his bag of chips to Naruto, offering him to take one. Naruto grinned and took a chip and scarfed it down. His tongue lit up in a disco circus of flavor.

"WOW! That's good!" Naruto exclaimed.

Choji let out a hearty laugh, "You like it? It's ramen flavored." This statement caught Naruto's full attention.

"What!? NO WAY! WHERE DO I GET MORE!" He exclaimed, earning another laugh from Choji.

The rotund boy gave him a smirk, "Well, there's no more of them left…" Naruto's head immediately dropped.

"but…"

His head shot back up again expectantly, "I'll give you a bag, I have plenty at home."

Naruto salivated as Choji handed him an unopened bag of his new favorite snack food. Naruto then stopped thinking about food and carefully set the bag down under his desk. He then looked at Choji with a serious face.

"Thanks a lot, Choji, this means so much to me." He gave a soft smile to the boy.

Choji understood completely what Naruto meant. Prior to Shikamaru, he had no friends in the Academy. It wasn't until Shikamaru started to spend more and more time with him that he was able to appreciate small gestures of kindness. He knew the weight of his actions on Naruto and was proud to be able to call him a friend.

* * *

**Omake**

* * *

Hinata [clearly flustered]: Oh no please, don't make me tell him so soon! Its embarrassing!

Director: Look, you'll tell him when I think you should tell him okay? No if's or buts.

Naruto [poofing out of nowhere]: Hahaha you said butts!

Hinata [do I really need to say she's blushing?]: O-Oh N-Naruto-kun!

Naruto [pouting]: Come on Hinata, we aren't on camera, you can drop the honorifics.

Hinata [struggling]: Oh, s-sorry, N-Naruto-ku.. Naruto-K...

Cameraman [snickering]: Are your lines written to include the stutters? Or are you really just this nervous around your cr...

[Hinata shrieks and juukens the shit out of the cameraman, causing screen to shake and black out]

* * *

**A/N (Cont.): Well there it is, first chapter, how was it? What did you think? Its not too late to suggest changes, since I have just started. Keep in mind that I am not a writer by trade, (I actually do software engineering), but nevertheless I want to write so I'll have to improve myself. Like I said, this chapter is a bit of a test to see how such a series would do. I still need to flesh out most of the story, (I still haven't planned all of Part I lol). At this point I have a notes file that has some general details but I need to solidify my ideas and create story arcs based on how I want the story to go. If you want to get a better sense of my current level of skill, read "Hinata's Birthday". It doesn't cover every facet of storytelling in great detail but I feel like it has a little bit of everything. Please leave reviews if you want me to continue or if you think I should release a second chapter as a test. Your feedback means the world to me. Keep in mind that in the case that I do start, it may take several weeks if not a month for some chapters to come out since I am in college and this is just kind of a hobby of mine.**


	2. Real Friends

**A/N: Well, I guess that since you are reading this I decided to keep on going. Thanks for the reviews by the way! Although, the one by Drakensong24 may or may not have pushed me to do so.** **Did y'all like the omake at the end? If there is anything that I cannot write its 4th wall breaks and combat scenes. But that's why I try, to get better… and to humiliate myself a little. Anyways here's chapter 2. I actually wrote this in advance, in case you wanted me to continue. Please note though, not every chapter will be out this quick. Like I said, I had this chapter written in case you guys wanted me to continue. I will probably have the next chapter written in about two or three weeks. **

**By the way, I hate writing dialogue for Hinata at this stage, all the hyphens are driving me crazy!**

**Key (For the whole fanfic):**

_Italics – _Thoughts, Flashbacks

**Bold **– Tailed Beast/Summon animals talking (i.e. Kurama, Gamabunta, etc…)

Underline – Jutsu Name

**Disclaimer: In a world, far far away, I wish I had the rights to Naruto and related characters. In an parallel universe I might but in this one, I do not. I would have been so rich, *sniff* so many missed opportunities.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Real Friends

* * *

Hinata was having the greatest dreams. She was in a field with Naruto, they were having a picnic. All she heard from him was, "You're the best Hinata-chan!" as he ate her food.

She giggled at his antics and they both sat there, enjoying the meal. Naruto then turned to look at her and said something that stopped her heart, "I love you Hinata". His normally expressive eyes were serious as he stared into her eyes with a warm smile.

He then turned over, resting on his left arm so that he could face her. He brought his face closer and closer to hers. Her heart was trying to break out of her chest as she returned, "I love you too Naruto-kun" as their faces came closer and their lips opened just slightly.

Her dream was shattered as she woke up to her name being called and looked around. She was in the Academy classroom and it was empty, the only people being there were Naruto, Choji, and a sleeping Shikamaru.

"Hinata-chan? Are you finally awake?" Naruto called looking right at her. "Class was over a few minutes ago, wake up!"

Hinata squeaked from his stare and started blushing from embarrassment at passing out during class. She was also a bit embarrassed to face Naruto after that fantasy she was just having.

"U-um… w-what did I m-m-miss?" She questioned, poking her fingers together and looking at the ground.

"Remember that project Iruka-sensei was talking about? Well, we have about two months to work on it outside of school." Naruto said, as he nervously fidgeted and rubbed the back of his head.

_Why is he so nervous? Does he not think he'll do a good job? Oh no, Naruto-kun you'll do fine!_ Hinata thought.

"Umm I was wondering… if… um… you would be my partner?" Naruto said, shooting her a nervous grin.

_H-He… w-wants m-m-me to b-b-be his p-p-partner? He WANTS ME? _Hinata's eyes widened as she got up and slammed her hands on her desk, half out of excitement and half to keep her from fainting again.

"YES OF COURSE!" She almost screamed at him. "Eeep!" she slapped her hands over her mouth, realizing her outburst and taking in Naruto's shocked expression. This caused Choji and Shikamaru to snicker to themselves.

_Wow I've never heard her yell before. _Naruto thought. _Did she think she couldn't do it alone?_

A few seconds later he closed his eyes to make room for the huge smile that covered his whole face. Hinata's nerves caught fire and she had trouble keeping herself from blushing a deep red.

"All right! Thanks Hinata-chan! I know you're super smart so there's no way we'll fail this project!" His stomach rumbled, causing him to blush and scratch the back of his head.

"Um.. do you want to go and get some ramen with me? Seems like I'm still a bit hungry. He asked her, looking with pleading eyes.

_E-Eating ramen… w-with N-Naruto-kun? Isn't t-that like a… d-d-DATE? _Hinata blushed even more as she fanned her face and took deep breaths and fought for consciousness. She managed to barely nod her head and screwed her eyes shut as she tried to take back control of her body.

"Great!" He said as he turned to Shikamaru and Choji. "You guys wanna get food too?"

"Ugh, I can't go, I have uh… stuff to do." Shikamaru said as he walked out, "I'll see you later Choji."

Choji's pupils dilated at the mere mention of food and he nodded vigorously as he got up to race to the famed ramen stand. "As long as you're paying Naruto!"

Naruto just shook his head and grinned, _typical Choji_. He didn't mind paying, at least he had some friends to go with him. Not that he didn't like Teuchi and Ayame's company, it was just that he wanted to at least have some friends his own age.

He looked at Hinata, who was still frozen in place with a shocked look on her face. "Come on, Hinata-chan! Let's get going before all the adults get off work!" He grabbed her hand and sprinted out of the room, Hinata in tow.

Hinata stared down at his hand that was grasping hers. He had accidentally intertwined their fingers as he rushed to his favorite place in Konoha. Hinata's vision was dimming. His hand felt so warm and so nice in her own. It sent electric shocks all through her body as her nerves failed yet again. _He's… holding… my… hand… I can't take this anymore!_ She passed out, unbeknownst to her blond crush.

* * *

She woke up as they were approaching the ramen stand, Naruto's second home. The smells coming out of it were delicious and made the ninja-in-training salivate. Choji and Naruto, who released a now conscious Hinata, sprinted into the shop taking seats on the stools.

Hinata shook herself out of her daze as she prepared herself to walk in. She berated herself for passing out yet again. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to spend time with Naruto outside of school. She was NOT going to waste it.

She pulled the flap over her head and took a seat next to Naruto, her heart threatened to come bursting out of her mouth. It was so surreal to be sitting next to Naruto like this.

It was no secret that he had a crush on Sakura, which was why he took no notice of any other girl in their class. Unfortunately for her, this meant that Naruto barely noticed Hinata. All of his attention went towards trying to woo Sakura. He was never successful and the large craters that were often left around the Academy were a testament to that.

Hinata did recognize that the situation was mainly her fault. She never really tried to get Naruto's attention the way the other girls did with Sasuke. She was someone who put more meaning to action rather than mere declarations of love. However, she understood that some level of directness was required, she could never bring herself to say it out loud.

She had tried to get his attention before, mainly though class spars where she would try her best to show off her Gentle Fist, which admittedly wasn't the best. However, Naruto would almost never watch any of her fights. Not that he actively ignored her, but he never really showed any interest in anyone else's spars. He was much too focused on trying to fight Sasuke.

In contrast to Hinata, Sakura was bright, loud, direct and social. Sakura clearly made an effort to look good in class, she would always show up with cute clothes and plenty of makeup on. Also her hair was long and shone bright.

_She's just like Naruto-kun, no wonder he likes her._ She thought sadly. She shook her head; Naruto had chosen to spend time with her! She wouldn't pass this up! She wanted to cherish this moment as long as it lasted.

Teuchi came out of the kitchen to greet his customers. His smile grew wide when he saw his number one favorite customer and the closest thing he had to a son.

"Naruto! How's it going? Hope Iruka wasn't too rough on ya today." He smiled as he addressed Naruto.

Naruto looked up and replied, "It was amazing! We got a project on the Hokage, I finally get to do something interesting!" He turned and pointed to Hinata, "I also got Hinata-chan to be my partner for the project! She's super smart so I know I won't fail!" Hinata smiled and blushed from the praise.

Ayame looked up from the dishes she was washing. _Hinata… chan?_ She raised an eyebrow and looked at the two. _He's never used that honorific for any girl other than that pink-haired girl. _She took a closer look at Hinata blushing and it all came together.

_Oh, so this is the girl Iruka was talking about. Wow they would really make a cute couple._ She smiled at her surrogate younger brother. "Who are you're friends Naruto? I haven't seen them before." She asked him, pointing to the other Academy students who were sitting near him.

"Oh these are my friends! Choji Akimichi, and Hinata Hyuga. They were super nice to me today, so I wanted to grab food with them!" He replied, smiling greatly.

Choji gave them a happy wave. Hinata gave a polite greeting and conveyed her thanks to the owners of the ramen stand.

"Well I'll be, it's great that you're making friends Naruto!" Teuchi said to him, as he glanced at his calendar. "Tell you what, ramens on me today, Happy Birthday Naruto!"

Naruto jumped up and down in his seat, "Hell yeah dattebayo! That's what I'm talking about old man! I'll have an extra-large miso with pork!" He was ecstatic, in twelve years he had never had a better birthday than today! _It couldn't get any better! Free food, friends, Hinata has a gift for me… maybe my wish was granted?_

Choji ordered, "I'll have an Akimichi-sized beef ramen please!" Teuchi smiled at the boy, already familiar with his clan's eating habits.

"And for you, young lady?" Teuchi turned to Hinata.

"U-um… I'll have w-what N-Naruto-kun is h-having." Hinata replied, blushing.

"Wow you must have great taste in ramen if you eat what I eat!" Naruto said, turning to look at her.

Hinata giggled and blushed even harder. For some reason, Naruto felt something in his chest when she did it. _What was that feeling? _He wondered to himself. _I've never heard her laugh before, I need to try and make her laugh more._ He still couldn't figure out what that was that he was feeling as he looked at the Hyuga girl.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the smell of his beloved ramen-chan as Teuchi served up the meal.

The group, in unison said, "Itadakimasu!" and dug in. Naruto and Choji began to inhale their bowls at an inhuman pace. Hinata was taking small bites, savoring every drop of the broth and every nibble of pork. By the time she had taken her fourth bite, Naruto slammed his bowl down on the table and said, "Another bowl old man!"

Choji finished his bowl seconds later and looked at Naruto, his eyes narrowing.

"Oh, so it's an eating contest now huh? You're on! Another one for me too Teuchi-san!"

Hinata giggled again. She had never actually eaten with him before, although she had seen him eating here many times before. Actually eating with him was a totally new experience.

She liked that he could so easily enjoy mundane things, the way he could forget about everything in his life and enjoy the moment. It was admirable to her, being someone who suffered at the hand of her family, she always was reminded of her faults and not a second of her day went by where she was not saddened by her own situation.

Unless she was with Naruto.

_There it is again! I'm gonna keep making her laugh dattebayo!_ Naruto thought as he heard he laugh again. She was always so quiet and sad looking. She may have been smart, but Naruto knew she wasn't happy about something. He liked making others happy, even if he couldn't be. He put on his smile and laughed for others so that maybe his happiness would rub off on them.

The group continued to eat, talking about school, Naruto's pranks, and the project they were assigned. Teuchi just looked at Naruto and smiled. _Its been so long since he's smiled this much. I'm glad he's found some friends his age._ _That has to be the girl Iruka has been talking about. _He chuckled to himself as he went to the back of the restaurant. It was time to make a bet with someone.

* * *

"There, it's all done."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed as he lit his pipe and relaxed in his chair. Today was such a busy day, he had to deal with all the merchants and performers who were coming for the celebration of the defeat of the Kyuubi.

More worryingly he had to deal with rising tensions in Kirigakure, there was a civil war going on and it was starting to get out of control. He had to maintain Konoha's neutral position, even though he sided with the rebels personally. Konoha had no alliances with Kiri and was not obligated to do anything. Despite this, he had secretly managed to sneak the rebels some supplies under the nose's of the council. He knew very well that an alliance with Kiri would benefit Konoha and make them more secure against their enemies such as Iwagakure and Kumogakure.

He enjoyed his job as he loved every single soul in Konoha. He would always tell them that the whole village was his family, that he protected them as if they were his daughters, sons, and grandchildren. However, when he was done with his duties as Hokage, he liked to paint with ink. Before becoming Hokage, he dreamed about becoming a famous painter, enjoying the art of moving his brush across the canvas.

Alas, he couldn't retire peacefully like he had planned. Minato's death called for a strong leader to take the reins and none of the Sannin were in the village. They were Hiruzen's own students, but they had all disappeared.

Jiraiya was Konoha's spymaster and therefore was almost always out of the village, gathering intel on their enemies and the situation in the neighboring lands. Currently, he was in Kiri, assisting with the situation there. But Hiruzen knew the real reason Jiraiya didn't like to be bound to the village.

Jiraiya was much like Hiruzen and put a lot of blame on himself. He personally blamed himself for Minato's death, thinking that if he had been in the village, things would have been different. Hiruzen was somewhat disappointed in Jiraiya's actions. Because of his guilt, the Sannin wasn't there for his own godson, who had been suffering for the past few years.

_I think I'll call him back soon, Naruto-kun needs him. I'll see if I can convince him to stay._

Moving onto his other students, Tsunade had left the village on vacation, due to the deaths of her younger brother Nawaki and her lover Dan. The woman had been the brightest medic-nin in Konoha and possibly the world, only rivalled by Chiyo-sama in Suna. Such talent was quite a waste, out of the village, continuously gambling.

Despite these facts, Hiruzen understood how she felt and allowed her to be off active duty. These days, nobody knew where she was, not even Jiraiya. Hiruzen didn't like it, but even he admitted it was time for her to come back into active duty, Konoha needed a strong leader for the medical corps and he knew she had to be the one. It was just a matter of finding her.

Lastly, Orochimaru. His name was a sore spot for Hiruzen as Orochimaru was the Sandaime's favorite student, the one he wanted to succeed him as the Yondaime Hokage. However, horrifying discoveries of his student's research and experimentation led him to be exiled from the village.

Hiruzen was a different man back then, time, and experience told him that sometimes he had too much faith in others. He had put too much faith in Orochimaru, believing that the man would realize his mistake and repent, and thus created a powerful enemy to the leaf.

Such was the state of things, without the three most powerful ninja ever to be trained in Konoha, the Hokage hat needed to go to Hiruzen. Normally, he would have been a bit bitter about all of this, but because of the promise he had made to Kushina and Minato on the day of their death, he pushed forwards with a sense of duty, responsibility and guilt.

He felt that the whole Kyuubi incident was his fault, that he should have been more careful, maybe he should have gotten more seal masters to maintain a stronger barrier. Maybe he could have moved Kushina to a more secure location. If he hadn't been so foolish back then, maybe Naruto could have had a loving family. He shook his head; _no it is not the time to wallow in self-loathing._

At the thought of his name, Hiruzen smiled. The young blond boy, despite being reckless and brash, gave him such immense happiness. The boy could easily bring a smile to the normally serious Hokage and never failed at making Hiruzen laugh.

What made Hiruzen the proudest, was Naruto's dream and conviction to become the greatest Hokage there ever had been. It was exactly what both his parents had wanted so many years ago and that dream lived on through their son.

Hiruzen turned to his crystal ball and activated his surveillance jutsu. The jutsu was made during his reign when he found out about the Uchiha coup d'état. The jutsu allowed his to keep the clan under his watchful eye, however in recent years, he used it more to keep an eye on his late successor's son.

He came upon the vision of Naruto within the familiar walls of Ichiraku Ramen. He saw him sitting next to a few other children too. He smiled at the vision of them all talking and laughing together. _I was worried for no reason. Of course Naruto will be fine._ He smiled to himself as he deactivated his crystal ball and went back to smoking.

* * *

Choji had left to go home, leaving Naruto and Hinata alone. Hinata's heart was doing its own workout as she noticed that she was alone with him. _I-I can't f-faint n-n-now! I have to give him his present!_ She turned to him, looking down.

"N-N-Naruto-kun… I um… n-need t-to give y-you your b-birthday present." She said as she reached underneath her seat.

"Oh thanks!" Naruto said, smiling. "You… you didn't need to Hinata-chan! Today was fun enough as it is!" He still couldn't fathom that someone had gone out of their way to get him a birthday gift.

"Oh, N-Naruto-kun, i-it's nothing!" She said as she forced herself to smile and look up. She then handed him the small box and he graciously accepted it.

He noticed the packaging, and something felt... familiar about it. It was a purple box with an orange bow tied to the top. _Where have I seen this before?_ Then it hit him, images of his frog wallet, his sleeping hat and his first pair of chopsticks came into mind. His eyes widened and he looked at Hinata.

_H-He's staring at me! D-Did I do something wrong? _Hinata racked her brain, thinking of what could have caused Naruto to stare at her like that. Her heart wasn't helping at all as it did was screamed for her to faint, but she needed to stay conscious right now! She needed to be there for Naruto as he opened his gift.

_No, it just has to be a coincidence, I bet it is! _He shook his head and opened the box and looked inside. To his delight there was a few seeds and flower bulbs, along with a guide to all the plants in Konoha. He turned back to Hinata in awe.

"How did you know I like to garden? I've kept that as a secret for years!" He blushed a little in embarrassment and continued to stare; slack jawed at the girl who had just given him a gift.

He indeed liked to garden, but he mainly kept it a secret, not wanting to be bullied for it. It wasn't like anyone asked him what he liked to do, but he was very sure that nobody would ever find out about this one hobby.

_Oh no, he thinks I'm a creep! _Hinata thought as more and more blood rushed to her face. "I… um… always s-see y-y-you h-helping t-tend the garden a-at the A-Academy," She started, looking away, "I… j-just t-t-thought that m-maybe y-y-you e-enjoyed it…" She faded away towards the end, continuing to stare at her sandals in shame.

Naruto shook his head, seeing that she was feeling uncomfortable. "This is amazing dattebayo! Thank you so much! You really are the best Hinata-chan!" Naruto beamed at her.

Hinata's face shot up and now she was shocked, as well as flustered and, well, about a thousand other emotions. Red started to creep down her face, stopping at her neck. _H-He… s-said it… again!_ She grabbed a glass of water and hurriedly drank it to cool her face and calm herself. "N-No p-problem Naruto-kun, H-Happy Bir… eep!."

He gave her a hug and she let out an undignified squeak as her world began to spin again. Twice in a single day, he had hugged her! She was so close to him! She could smell his jacket and caught his scent.

It was better than she could have ever imagined! He smelled like sweet, burning wood and combined was the smell of ramen that seemed to follow him wherever he went. She felt his heart beating through his jacket, the gentle thumping a stark contrast to her heart's erratic pace. She took in this experience and fought to stay conscious, she wanted to remember this moment for the rest of her life!

Naruto let a rather dazed and dreamy looking Hinata go and looked out of the shop towards the setting sun. "Oh crap, I gotta go home! See you at school tomorrow Hinata-chan!" He transformed into his disguise and ran out the shop.

Hinata broke out of her dreams and landed right back in the real world as he transformed. _Naruto-kun... just... hugged me._ She thought as she collected herself and got up, thanking Teuchi once again for the great meal. She began to walk home, feeling like she was flying. For the first time ever, she was smiling as she walked into the Hyuga compound.

* * *

Hiashi noticed Hinata's uncharacteristic good mood as she entered the compound. He pondered, wondering how she could have been so happy. "Hinata" he called out, "How were your classes today? And where were you just now?"

Hinata froze at the sound of his voice and shuddered. She turned and gave a polite bow. "They went well, Otou-san, I just had some dinner with friends, that is all." She bit her lip and thought about mentioning the project, "A-Also… we have a project and my partner is Uzumaki Naruto. I w-wanted to let you know in case he came here to work on it." She whispered to him.

Hiashi, well trained in not showing his emotions, thought carefully. The boy had a well-known reputation for being a troublemaker. Hiashi had discussed the boy with some of the other council members but he had never met him in person.

Several on the council vehemently detested the boy, saying that he was a demon-child. Hiashi was not Shikaku, but he had an analytical mind of his own. He always wondered what had caused them to have such distrust in the boy when their Hokage spent most of his free time caring for the child. In Hiashi's eyes, if the Hokage trusted the boy, it did not matter whether he was a jinchuriki or not, the boy was of no danger to the well-being of the village. He understood the politics of power too well, and knew the burden the child took on for the sake of the village.

The boy's behavior was still somewhat peculiar to Hiashi, he seemed to wish for the attention of the entire village at times, pranking anyone he could. But paradoxically, the boy also made efforts to disappear at times. In fact, the boy sometimes would make extra effort to leave the village and spend time alone in the outskirts of the wilderness surrounding Konoha. His scouts had reported that the boy would usually leave for the rivers and spend days, fishing for his food and sleeping in the trees.

He had also heard about the boy's apparent lack of skills, that the boy was not able to master some basic academy ninjutsu. It worried him that his daughter, who was supposed to represent the might of the Hyuga clan, was associating with such a person.

He sighed and said to Hinata, "Very well then, make sure that he does not hold you back," And he turned away, walking back into his room. "Also, it is your choice if you want to go to the festival tonight."

"No thank you, Otou-san, I'm very tired." Hinata said, only half lying. The real reason she didn't want to go was because the festival was only a reminder to her of what happened years ago.

Her father nowadays gave her the choice since she had displayed a great discomfort in attending the festival. At first, he thought it was because she wasn't born at the time of the Kyuubi attack and therefore had no real connection to the festival. But then he realized that she held a different view of the festival, almost, disgust?

He never pried too far into his daughter's life and therefore could not fathom why she would be disgusted by the celebrations. However, from what he heard from Ko; it may have had something to do with the Uzumaki boy. He left without saying a word.

Hinata's lip trembled in anger as she heard the way her father talked about Naruto. She wanted to lash out, to tell him he was wrong. But she still wasn't brave enough to do such a thing. She still yearned for her father's approval, so she kept her mouth shut. She took a deep breath and returned to her room.

She got ready for bed and lied down. Before she fell asleep, she pulled out her small locket, emblazoned with the Hyuga clan crest on one side and a lilac on the other side. It had been her mother's wedding gift from her father. It was a symbol that, to Hinata, proved that her father was capable of love.

She opened the latch and looked longingly at the photos inside. On the left side was a black and white photo of her mother on her engagement day. She had looked so happy and so peaceful that day. Hinata loved her mother dearly, and the five years she had gotten to spend with her were the happiest years of her life.

She pushed away the memories and looked at the second picture and blushed. Of course, it was a photo of Naruto that took the second spot in the locket. It was a photo she had cut out of her first-year yearbook from the Academy.

A young, 7-year-old Naruto beamed back at her with a grin that was missing a few teeth. Her heart hammered in her chest as she saw him and was reminded of everything that had happened today. She closed the locket and shut off her light, pleasant dreams awaiting her.

* * *

A distance away, in an abandoned city, an old woman was packing up most of her belongings, mainly consisting of many cats and their food and toys.

She had a massive plume of gray hair, evenly going out in every direction, tamed by a set of cat ears.

"Am I really gonna see Konoha, baa-chan? Are there really other kids my age over there? Will I make friends"

A little girl of about 11 years walked out wearing a large backpack. She had shoulder length brown hair and was wearing an orange dress. In her arms was a gray kitten dressed in a blue kimono.

The young girl was clearly distressed, of course she would be. After years of spending time with ninja cats, she had only seen the occasional Uchiha genin pass through their home.

"You will, my dear Tamaki-chan, trust me, you will." The elder woman said, as the two set off for the great city.

* * *

Near some forests outside Konoha's walls, a mother and daughter were walking swiftly through.

The older woman was tall, she had grey eyes and an almost grayish-purple cloak. The most astounding features of her, were her bright red hair and bite marks that covered her body. She looked down at her daughter, who was holding her hand as they made their way through the forest.

Her daughter squinted through her glasses and sighed with relief. "I think they've stopped chasing us, I don't feel them anymore, okaa-san." She then turned to her mother, "Are you sure this was the right decision? I mean, at least they let us live in Kusagakure in peace."

Her mother looked at Karin with a smile, "Karin, while they may have let us live there, it came at too big a cost. I did not want to die, and have you end up like me. When I heard the rumor of another Uzumaki in Konoha, that's when I knew where we needed to go."

"And what if they want to do the same thing Kusa did to us?" Karin asked, indignantly.

"Don't worry, when we are reunited with our clan, they won't have the power to do so." Her mother said, hopefully.

* * *

It was around midnight, the man guessed. They had been on the run for a couple of days and only had two hours of rest. His younger cousin was showing the signs of the fatigue, but fear kept her going.

The man looked down at her, the only family he had left now. 'Orochimaru-sama' had lied to them. He had used their people, Arashi was fortunate enough to realize this in time to save himself and his little cousin, the closest thing he had to a sister.

"Hurry Sasame, I think we are close; the gates should be a kilometer from that large tree…" he started.

"Are you sure he won't follow us in?" The little girl asked, fear leaking through her trembling lips.

Arashi looked down at her, his dark gray eyes shining behind a mass of light purple hair. He felt the urge to stop running and pull her close, for a child her age, she had gone through such trauma that one should never have experienced.

Sasame returned his gaze with on of her own, she admired his skill in the Fuma clan's jutsu and his inherent skill as a shinobi, but she had seen the power held by the man who had killed so many of their clan. She looked at Arashi, who wordlessly told her with a gaze, _It will be alright, we need to hurry now._

In no time the gates appeared, Arashi finally started to loosen up a bit, only to hear a weak yelp and a thud as Sasame hit the ground hard. A rustle in the bushes about a hundred yards South alerted him of enemy presence.

His heart hammered in his chest as his mind raced equally as fast. The enemy sent to dispatch them was quite strong, perhaps a jonin. Arashi was smart enough to know that a fight with him would be suicide.

Quickly moving, he created thin chakra threads that spanned the narrow path. He knew it would not stop the enemy but it would most likely buy him some time. He turned and picked up Sasame and started running as fast as he could towards the gates of Konoha that loomed ahead of him.

It was like the world moved in slow motion; the gates stubbornly did not move closer fast enough. He could almost feel the breath of the shinobi behind him, as he fell into the trap and was currently ripping his way free.

He reached the gate and began pounding from the outside, "PLEASE, LET US IN! WE SEEK REFUGE HERE! ANYONE! PLEASE HELP US!" He cried in pure desperation and turned when he sensed a projectile approaching at high speed. He barely dodged in time, and the arrow impaled itself in the dirt next to him. His enemy had revealed himself.

A man with a sleeveless grey tunic jumped down. At first, he didn't look anything special. His skin was well tanned, and his hair was tied in a simple ponytail. If you didn't look below the shoulder's you would have thought he was just some normal teenager, maybe a chunin.

It was when you looked a little lower, that you realized that this man had six arms. On his neck was a strange tattoo. Other than that his body had no markings. A single note was engraved on his headband as he smiled viciously at his prey.

"Well, looks like the spider had finally caught the fly. Though you could argue that you also are a spider, you know.. with those thread..." He was stopped when a kunai flew past, inches away from his face. He turned to face the attacker.

Arashi stood there, carefully calm, he was gathering an enormous amount of chakra, he silently whispered to himself as he was working on the many hand signs necessary for his next jutsu.

Sasame watched in horror, _how? How does he know that jutsu? I knew he was good, but this. It's too much!_

Kidomaru smirked _I can just dodge this; doesn't he realize that? _As he tensed his legs to move he realized that they wouldn't budge. He looked down and saw the ninja wire that was now holding his legs in place. His eyes widened as his spit out a yellow colored liquid that he formed into a blade.

As he was hacking away at the ninja wire, Arashi had finished his jutsu. He clapped his hands together and put them out, making a triangle with his thumbs and index finger.

"Fuma Ninja Art: Curse of the Mandala!"

A rainbow-colored prism flew from the Fuma ninja's hands and rocketed towards Kidomaru. The multi-armed Oto shinobi was just finished with hacking the last of the ninja wire that trapped him.

As the dust settled, Arashi maintained the jutsu, not sure if he had successfully caught their pursuer. This jutsu was forbidden for the high chakra costs and Arashi was definitely feeling the burden now.

To his horror, Kidomaru stood, unharmed, and inches away from the trench that was dug by the prism. He just smirked at the now exhausted Fuma ninja. Arashi's legs shook as he fell to the ground.

Kidomaru sighed and shook his head, "You almost got me there, tricky bastard." He grinned evilly. "I guess its time to drop this charade, Orochimaru-sama might like to have his hands on such a technique."

He walked slowly towards Arashi and Sasame. Arashi looked back at his younger cousin, the one who looked up to him so much. He saw the solemn look as she closed her eyes, awaiting death.

It never came.

Several dozen shuriken flew threw the air and stopped Kidomaru's forward progress. The Oto ninja flipped backwards as five ninjas jumped down on the ground. Kidomaru easily recognized them from the bingo book.

_Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan, Asuma Sarutobi of the Guardian Twelve, that taijutsu freak Might Guy, Konoha's genjutsu mistress Kurenai Yuhi, and lastly _his eyes widened, and then narrowed on the last member, _that traitor Anko Mitarashi!_

He realized he was severely outnumbered, in this case, even his curse mark wouldn't help him. He growled and made the most logical decision and ran away. _It would do Orochimaru-sama no good if I was captured by the Konoha scum._ The jonin turned to the two refugees and looked at them, trying to determine if they were a threat.

The two clan members just looked at the five shinobi, hope in their eyes. Arashi was the first one to speak up.

"T-thank you, for saving us, we were running from The Land of Rice Paddies, we need a safe place to stay, please."

Kakashi eyed the man, he then nodded to the others in the group and they all helped the two get on their feet and took them to see the Hokage.

_They're the third one's today, seems like we aren't getting a break anytime soon._ Kakashi mused to himself.

* * *

The next day, Hinata arrived early to class as usual. Not many students were there as she took her seat, waiting patiently for the lesson to start. What came next startled her.

Naruto rushed into the classroom, early for once. He usually arrived in class just as Iruka was beginning to start the lesson, or he arrived very late. The latter always earned him a yell from Iruka.

"Hey Hinata-chan! Mind if I sit here?"

Hinata blinked, _he… wants to sit next to me? Again?_ She was filled with happiness as she nodded. Naruto sat down and leaned back, folding his hands behind his head.

He looked at her and whispered, "Thanks for the flowers by the way. They will look great when they bloom dattebayo!" His smile lit up her whole world.

"N-No problem Naruto-kun." She smiled as she replied. She was proud she didn't stutter too bad. Just spending one day with him and she had started to get more comfortable in his presence. They both made some small talk about class and the project and soon Iruka walked in, followed by three children about their age.

He looked up at the noisy class and then back to the three new students.

Sasame looked, almost worried, as she observed the massive class. She seemed to be overwhelmed to see so many children her age. Meanwhile, both Karin and Tamaki had found something else to drag their attention to. Sasuke Uchiha.

He cleared his throat and the class quieted down. They noticed the three new girls and looked at them like you would look at a strange creature.

"Good morning class! Before we start today, I would like to introduce our new students" He started from nearest to him and pointed as Sasame.

"Hello, my name is Sasame Fuma." She said softly.

Tamaki then stood up, and proclaimed, "The name's Tamaki!" She then pointed to the cat who was perched on her shoulder, "And this is Denke, he's my ninja cat!"

That last comment earned a scoff from Kiba, _ha, a ninja cat user, now there's someone with even less potential than Naruto._ The noise earned a glare from Iruka. Before Tamaki could notice Karin stepped up.

"Hey! My name is Karin Uzumaki!" She said with a flip of her hair. She looked in the direction of Sasuke, to see if he noticed.

Naruto froze when he heard her introduction. _Uzumaki? She's… part of my clan?_ Naruto had remembered asking Iruka about the Uzumaki clan, only to find surprisingly little information about the now lost clan.

It was known that the village of Uzushiogakure had been destroyed in one of the Great Ninja Wars. It used to be the home of the once powerful clan. But other than that, not much else was known. It was very frustrating for Naruto. As someone who had no family, his last name was proof that he didn't just pop out of nowhere. It was proof that he was a part of something greater. That he wasn't alone.

This girl showing up proved that his clan was still out there. He was beyond shocked. In his state, tears of happiness almost leaked out.

Hinata had noticed his behavior, and was equally as surprised. She had not known that Naruto belonged to a clan of some sorts. She was happy that he had family now. All she hoped was that they ended up better than her own family. She wished for them to love Naruto, as kin, he needed, no he _deserved_ a family more than anyone.

"Hey… I'm Uzumaki too…" Naruto started.

But it seemed that Karin was otherwise occupied as she and Tamaki rushed towards Sasuke. Naruto looked down in disappointment.

"Ugh, I guess she's like the other girls in this class," Naruto said as he crossed his arms underneath his chin.

"Um, is this seat open?"

Naruto nearly jumped out of his seat as he turned and saw the quiet, orange-haired girl from earlier next to him.

"Uh, sure, I mean… uh no its not taken… I mean…" He shook his head, "What I'm _trying _to say is that you can sit here!" He finally finished, giving her a welcoming smile.

Sasame looked at the peculiar blond child in front of her, she was not a sensor, but her time on the run forced her to up her skills in that area. She felt a powerful, dark aura radiating from him, but confusingly, it was diluted with a brighter, happier aura.

However, Naruto looked at her expectantly, almost, as if he wanted her to sit with him and the girl next to him.

She looked closer at him, trying to see if he was any danger to her. She was careful with who she trusted. Now that some of her own clan had become mere puppets for that scary snake man, she was a bit more reserved. Arashi had told her in the morning to try and make friends. She shrugged and decided, _can't hurt to start here, at least that white-eyed girl looks nice enough._

She plopped down and sat down next to Hinata. Neither girl talked much to each other. Hinata didn't mostly because she was just shy. Sasame had never really talked much to children her age, so she had no idea what to bring up to start conversation. Luckily for them, Naruto was an expert in the field.

Iruka was busy prying Sasuke's fangirls apart from the two new girls who tried to sit next to him. This gave the three in the back some time to chat.

"So, um, what kind of food do you like?" Naruto asked nonchalantly.

Sasame was taken back by the oddity of the question, she thought but couldn't come up with anything. She shook her head, "I… well I can't really think of anything right now." She said, with a nervous laugh.

Naruto then smiled wide and looked at Hinata, "I think we should take her to Ichiraku's after class then, what do you say Hinata-chan?"

_Ah so that's her name, wait, what was this boy's name?_

Her question was answered seconds later, as a blushing Hinata was trying to sputter out an answer,

"Hey Naruto! We would like to start class, if that's okay with you." Iruka called out, staring at his student.

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, as he received glares from everyone. He didn't pay them any attention though. "Sorry about that sensei!"

Iruka then moved on with the lesson, going into the details of the project. Sasame, who was not there for the introduction of the project, took careful notes of what the requirements were.

* * *

When they were released for lunch and recess Naruto and Hinata went outside and ate their lunches together. Today Naruto had remembered his lunch and he ate next to Hinata.

They both looked out at the schoolyard, the two new additions to Sasuke's Fan Club were now stalking him around the playground, unaware that he was actively trying to ignore them. Naruto was still a bit disappointed that Karin was so infatuated with Sasuke. It made him uncomfortable with approaching her, since it would mean that he would have to be in the vicinity of the girls who had made his life hell for so long.

What did catch his eyes, was a rather lonely looking Sasame. The girl just sat by herself, finding a little amusement in the other girls' antics. Naruto then addressed his friend.

"Say, doesn't Sasame look a little lonely?" He said to Hinata, the Hyuga nodded, not trusting her voice around Naruto. "Let's invite her to come sit with us!"

He got up and waved, "Hey! Sasame!" The orange-haired girl looked startled and turned towards him and saw him waving her over. She shrugged and walked over, sitting down next to the other two.

"Sorry for not introducing ourselves earlier! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my friend, Hinata Hyuga." He said, pointing to a blushing Hinata.

Sasame looked at the two, _they seem friendly enough. Wait, did he say… Uzumaki? Like that other girl?_ She cleared her throat, "So how are you related to Karin?" She asked inquisitively.

She immediately realized that she shouldn't have asked that question. Naruto's face visibly darkened and a sad look came over his face. Yes, he was disappointed, but he was also extremely angry. Here he was, an orphan. When he finally found out he had family, he was turned down in favor of Sasuke. _Why always him? What's so special about being an Uchiha?_

He just forced himself to smile, "Well, I'm not really sure, I didn't even know other Uzumaki existed until today."

Sasame nodded, she then asked another question, trying to lighten the mood, "So, about that project, I'm assuming that you two are working together." She sounded almost, sad.

Naruto looked at Hinata, the latter immediately understood what he wanted to do, and she nodded. Even though it would mean that her time with Naruto wouldn't be alone, she wasn't petty enough to shun someone else who clearly needed friends.

Naruto then turned to her, "Well, you could work with us. I know of a couple of groups who have three people."

Sasame looked again at the boy, she could not figure him out. She had noticed that he received different treatment from the others. It seemed that the other students went out of their way to glare at him and treat him badly.

Yet, for someone who was treated as such, he was so cheerful. So kind. So caring. It made no sense to her. She wondered if there was more to this boy than what she could see.

"Um, sure, that would be nice. Thanks" She said.

The group sat for a while and ate their lunches, Sasame brought out a small pack with onigiri and began nibbling on her meal. Naruto broke the silence.

"So, uh, which Hokage do you want to do the presentation on?" Naruto asked, speaking between mouthfuls of instant ramen. "I really like the Yondaime but if you guys have a suggestion, I would like to hear it too!"

"No, it's f-fine, I am comfortable with doing him too." Hinata replied. She knew Naruto idolized the Yondaime. She found it cute since everyone said that Naruto resembled him so much. He was fascinated by the man's nickname, the Konoha's Yellow Flash. Naruto had told her that he dreamed of a day where he would have a cool nickname like him.

"Well, I have no preference, since I am not from around here. I think that should be fine." Sasame added.

They moved on to talk about their project and figured that they would go and study the jutsu that got him his name, the Hirashin no Jutsu.

"Where do you want to meet to work on it? We could just stay at the library, since we need to get books from there." He rubbed his chin, "Or you guys could come over to my apartment after the library and we could work there instead!"

Sasame just nodded her head, "I think that should work for me."

_He's inviting me to his apartment! I've never been inside… _Hinata blushed as she looked at her shoes, thinking of how to reply. Her heart took over and turned to him, "Let's go to y-your apartment, N-Naruto-kun."

Before Hinata's brain could process what, she had just said, Naruto beamed, "It's settled then! We'll head to the library and then go to my apartment after! This project is gonna be great dattebayo!"

Hinata then remembered her father's strict rules about staying out. "Oh I'll, n-need to talk to my f-father first, if t-that's okay…" She started, getting his attention.

"Of course! I totally forgot about that! We'll meet you at your house and then we'll all head to the library from there!"

They all agreed and finished up their lunches. They spent the rest of recess playing by Naruto's swing. Well, Naruto and Hinata did. For both of them, it was the greatest moment ever. For Naruto it was the first time he wasn't alone on the swing. Hinata offered to push him and he felt her gentle hands in his lower back, pushing him higher and higher. He had never been pushed before and he savored every moment.

For the perpetually blushing Hyuga, it was a scene out of one of her fantasies. She thoroughly enjoyed pushing Naruto and hearing his laugh. She fought hard not to faint as they switched places. Even though he hadn't expressed any romantic interest, Hinata could still dream.

Sasame stood back and watched the two, somewhat amused at the Hyuga's actions. _So… she has a crush on him?_ And for the first time in a long while, Sasame smiled.

* * *

Naruto was waiting outside Hinata's home, whistling to himself. She had gone inside a few minutes ago to ask for permission. Sasame said that she would meet the two at the library a bit later.

He admired her house from the outside, it was massive. The only home he ever had was his small, single bedroom apartment and this place was like a regal castle compared to his mud hut. _She's probably gonna hate my house._ He thought, as he waited for her to come out.

She arrived just a few seconds later, almost running out to greet him. "I am free to work on this for a few hours today." She said to him, "Though I will need to be back home around 7 so that I can train for a bit."

"Oh that's cool! What do you train on?" He asked as they started walking towards the library.

"I t-train in my clan's taijutsu. It's called the Gentle Fist." She said, twiddling her fingers yet again. She was not used to talking about personal details as she usually let Naruto do all the talking.

"Gentle Fist? Oh so that's what you hit me with!" Naruto said, causing the white-eyed girl to blush furiously.

Hinata was such a mystery to him. She was usually timid, shy, and kind of a weird girl. Not to say he didn't like her company, but he really just didn't know much about her. If he was going to be her friend, he felt that he should at least know some details about her. He decided to start with this.

"So how does it work?" He asked her, curiously.

She looked towards him as she explained to him how the Gentle Fist worked in tandem with her Byakugan. She left out the part about her weakness in it, since she it was a clan secret that was not meant to be shared. He listened intently and made her blush as he focused all his attention on her. It was as if the rest of the world didn't exist and his focus was solely directed to her words and explanation. When she had finished, he nodded in understanding.

"We should spar sometime dattebayo! I want to see it in action! The only experience I've had with it was when you knocked me out yesterday!" He smiled as he looked at her.

"Um…" She blushed even harder, _S-spar… Naruto-kun? _"No! I d-d-don't think I c-could, I… um… don't w-want to h-h-hurt you." She poked her fingers together as she looked at the ground.

"Nonsense! I heal quick! If you do hurt me, don't worry! I won't blame you!" He grinned as he admired her compassion. "If either of us gets hurt, we'll just rush each other to the hospital! No hard feelings dattebayo!" He said as he stuck out his hand.

Hinata nervously took his hand and shook it. She thought that in a few weeks, maybe she could drop the stuttering, but physical contact with him always left her feeling weak in the knees. Her legs shook as she tried to maintain her composure. They continued to walk.

"So, I uh.. just realized that I barely know anything about you. Um…" He rubbed the back of his head, and laughed nervously, thinking about where to start, "Do you have any siblings?"

"Um… yes, I have a younger sister, her name is Hanabi." She replied.

"Oh cool, is it…" His face darkened with sadness, "I bet it's fun to have a sibling."

Hinata frowned at his change in mood, she didn't like it when he got sad. She knew he had been lonely all his life. The fact that nobody was at home for him to love him would make her eyes well with tears. If there was anyone who truly deserved a loving family, it was him. She responded,

"Well, she can be a pain sometimes, but I enjoy her company, but…" She said, getting a bit distant.

He perked up, hearing her voice get sadder. If it was in his vocabulary, he would have said she looked almost wistful, thinking about something that was lost. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, offering his help. She replied by shaking her head side to side and muttering an apology.

They stayed away from family as they talked about other things, mainly the project and what they knew already. They had figured out which topics they needed to study and which books they needed to get.

As they neared the library, they noticed Sasame waiting for them and they went inside together. When they approached the librarian, who gave a dirty look to Naruto, about the books. Hinata decided to ask since she was the only one out of the two who had actually been inside the library before. Naruto was completely unaware of how the library worked and gladly let Hinata take care of it. They walked out later, carrying the books that they had borrowed.

As the three walked through the streets Sasame noticed something odd.

Every adult was staring at them with… contempt? Fear? She couldn't tell. They would walk past and everyone in their vicinity would turn to glare at them. As if they were criminals of some sort. At first she thought they were directed at her. But more and more, she realized that these people projected their emotions onto Naruto.

"It's that damn troublemaker again."

"Honey, please make sure you stay away from _him_"

She looked at her new friend to see if any of it was affecting him. He didn't seem to care at all, actually smiling and chatting with Hinata as he did so. This left Sasame extremely baffled.

She had one question on her mind, _Why? Why do they hate him? What did he do?_

* * *

"And here we are!" Naruto said as they reached the door of his apartment. He then realized something; _My place is a mess! I can't have them thinking I'm a slob!_ "Uh... guys? Is it okay if you wait out here for a few minutes? I uh… need to do something really quick!"

Hinata giggled at his nervousness, she already guessed what he was going to do. "S-Sure, Naruto-kun, we c-can wait."

Naruto smiled and rushed inside, closing the door behind him. He looked at the mess around him and groaned. Empty ramen cups littered the floor along with weeks old cartons of milk, the latter making the place smell like death itself.

His sweaty old clothes were strewn about, jumpsuits hanging out of cabinets, pants crumpled up on the floor, and – rather embarrassingly – a pair of underwear sitting on the stove for some reason. _How the hell did that even get there?_

The kitchen was its own nightmare as the floor near the sink was a mess from his attempt to make pancakes for himself last week. He didn't have a ladle to put the batter into the pan and decided he would just tip the mixing bowl and pour the needed batter. The result was the mixing bowl toppling over and half of the batter landing on him and the other half landing on the floor.

"Now is when I wish I could just make clones and do all this work faster" He muttered to himself as he began rushing around.

He zipped through his apartment, first dealing with the clothes and trash. He picked up all his clothes and threw them in his washing machine, turning it on and letting it run. He then raced around with a trash bag, picking up the trash that carpeted his floor and then throwing the trash bag out the window that led to the dumpster below. He missed and heard a crashing sound below and a rather terrified meow of a cat that was caught in the path of his waste.

He winced but continued on as he brought out the mop he had never used and furiously scrubbed the kitchen floor as he continued to clean. When it was all done, he ran around, spraying some air freshener to mask the horrible smell as he checked his apartment once more.

Outside, Hinata was patiently waiting, and giggling at the noises coming from inside. She could only imagine what he could be doing. Sasame watched on, just as amused, not just by Naruto but by Hinata's actions too.

"Have you told him yet?" She prodded, teasingly.

Hinata spun around, frightened, _No! She doesn't know! Does she?_

"T-Told him w-what?" Hinata asked, hoping for the best. Her hopes were shattered when Sasame let out a grin.

"Oh you know, that you _love _him." Hinata _eeped _and sputtered, looking for an answer.

But it never came, since before she knew it, the door rapidly swung open to reveal a panting but smiling Naruto, beckoning the two to come in.

"I know my place isn't all that big at least compared to yours Hinata-chan, but I hope it's okay!" He said as she walked in.

She took in her surroundings as a smile crept onto her face. The apartment was small, but it was not cramped. One could call it cozy. The bright paint on the walls contrasted sharply with the dark wood flooring. The kitchen was small but had everything that was needed. His living area had a worn couch and old coffee table but no other furniture. It was practical and cheery, everything Naruto needed.

"It's cute Naruto-kun" She said as she took in the sight.

He fake pouted and looked away, "It is not _cute_, its… just practical!" He said, eliciting a full laugh from Hinata. He pried open one of his eyes to see her laugh and he got the same weird feeling in his chest and stomach. Was it, nervousness? Or was it something else?

Sasame almost laughed, it was just _too _obvious. Though one thing caught her attention.

"Um, Naruto, do you… live alone?" She asked.

She had noticed that the apartment was only big enough for one person, and the lack of a parent or anyone else at this hour hinted at that fact.

His face fell a bit but he immediately brought back his smile, only Hinata noticed.

"Well, yeah I do. I never knew who my parents were, I think they died when the Kyuubi attacked." He then scratched his chin, "Funny, I could never find any other Uzumaki's in the graveyard or on the memorial stone."

Sasame looked at him in shock. This boy was an orphan? He had never met his parents even once? Did nobody in this village want to take care of him as their foster child? The questions spun wildly around in her head as she started to fully realize the struggle this boy was facing.

"Well, let's not get too down!" Naruto said, clearing his throat. "We have some books to study!"

* * *

"Dammit!" Shouted an exasperated Naruto.

They had been working on the project for a month now. The deadline was now just 5 days away. All three of them had covered a vast amount of information about the Yondaime and had started to make some progress on the tactics of the Hirashin. The real jutsu's details were a top village secret so the two could only go by what history books said about the jutsu.

"Why is this so complicated? I mean, I'm glad I learned about fuinjutsu, but this Hirashin is just too complex!"

Fuinjutsu was especially interesting to Naruto, when he found out that the Hirashin was a type of fuinjutsu, he looked up every scroll there was on the topic. For some reason, the blond enjoyed the art of creating seals, saying it was like painting or doing graffiti, if only a little more dignified. He learned a whole lot about drawing and creating seals in this time and picked up on the concept quite quickly. Much to Sasame's surprise.

From her short time in Konoha, she had adjusted well, making a small friend group with Naruto, Hinata, Choji, and sometimes Shikamaru, whenever the lazy Nara child felt like being social. She had noticed that Naruto rarely ever paid attention in class and had some of the lowest marks in the class. When he had picked up the art of sealing so quickly, she had been shocked.

In no time, he was creating his own tags for some of his pranks, which Sasame found amusing… only if you were not on the receiving end. She had once made the mistake of not checking the label on some of the scrolls in Naruto's apartment when a bucket of water spit out its contents in a torrential stream. Naruto had profusely apologized for the mistake and vowed to more clearly organize the mess of reading material in his apartment.

Despite his knowledge of fuinjutsu, space-time ninjutsu was still something he couldn't wrap his head around. Sealing paint into a scroll for a prank? Easy. But the thought of transporting all of your matter to a single seal? He couldn't wrap his head around the physics of that.

Hinata looked at him with concern. She had no real interest in fuinjutsu but was trying her best to understand the seal. She was extremely impressed at how quickly Naruto was able to pick up the foundation. "Naruto-kun, every jutsu has basics that you need to understand." She said, "Does a baby immediately start walking?" She asked him.

"What does that have to do with this?" Naruto asked, tilting his head.

"Well, when you were born, you couldn't walk right away, you had to crawl first. It's the same with ninjutsu, you need to start with the basics to get to the final result." She explained to him, hoping the example would help.

He scratched his chin in thought, "Yeah, it's kind of like waiting for water to boil for instant ramen too!" His eyes lit up in understanding.

Hinata giggled at his analogy and quick thinking, "Yes, exactly." She said as they returned to the books.

The last four days went by better with Naruto now focused. The decided that they finally had enough information and began working on how they would present it.

* * *

"Wow Naruto, Hinata, and Sasame! That was a very well-constructed project! Top marks for all of you!" He gave them both a warm smile. Naruto just grinned and shot him a thumbs up, Hinata blushed from the praise and gave a polite bow, Sasame smiled softly and thanked their sensei for the compliments.

The class just whispered among themselves.

"Oh Hinata and that new girl probably just did all the work."

"Is Iruka just playing favorites here?"

"His presentation was kind of better than Sasuke's though"

The last comment reached Sasuke's fan club and they internally growled but didn't reply. Sasuke had given a presentation by himself where he had sat in front of the class, hands in his pockets, as he muttered a quick presentation on the Shodaime Hokage. He never once made eye contact with anyone and quickly returned to his seat after his presentation, not wanting to waste another minute in front of the class.

Naruto's group, on the other hand, had a presentation that was full of useful and interesting information. Naruto sounded like an expert, discussing the Yondaime's mastery of fuinjutsu and how it led to him revamping the jutsu of the Nidaime Hokage. His particular lines had the added benefit of his sense of humor, which made the class laugh from time to time and made the presentation overall much more enjoyable. He even demonstrated some basic fuinjutsu to the class, surprising them all when he managed to seal his own lunch inside a scroll.

Hinata also did a great job. She was still mostly quiet and shy, but in a professional setting, she was able to communicate effectively. Mostly thanks to her time with the blond boy, she had stopped stuttering and also was able to project her voice to the class in order to be heard. She was also very well-prepared for the presentation, bringing in helpful diagrams and supplementing Naruto's commentary with them as well as a well-practiced speech on some of the physics related to space-time travel.

Sasame was also impressive, many of the girls did not really hang out with her, since she wasn't desperately in love with Sasuke. She didn't really associate with them, since she thought they were sort of strange in their pursuit of the black-haired Uchiha. Her voice had gone from barely being heard, to being one of her main strengths. The way she talked and explained the Yondaime's heroics during the Third Great War captivated the entire class, as if they were watching some sort of action movie.

Soon, the trio was making their way to Ichiraku's Ramen, on Naruto's insistence, since they had yet to take Sasame there yet.

"You guys did really good on the presentation! Especially you Hinata-chan!" He said with his trademark smile.

Hinata looked back with a smile of her own. "Thank you Naruto-kun, but I couldn't have done it without your help."

"Ahh what do you mean, I barely did anything, you're the smart one here." He smirked, pointing at her.

Sasame smiled too and looked at her friend, "You know he is right, without you I don't think I would have survived, being surrounded by Naruto's constant complaining." She ended the statement with a smirk aimed at the now pouting blond boy.

Hinata blushed and laughed with her friends. Naruto really didn't realize the affect that he had on the Hyuga heiress. If you had asked her at the beginning of the year to present and speak in front of a group of their peers, she would have shrunk away from the responsibility.

The three arrived at the famed ramen stand and ordered their food. When it came out Naruto watched Sasame expectantly, making the girl a bit uncomfortable.

"Come on! Dig in! Tell me how good it is!" He said earnestly.

Sasame shrugged and picked up a set of chopsticks. She slowly stirred the broth around and picked up a pile of noodles. Naruto watched as she ate.

As soon as the ramen touched her tongue, Sasame's eyes shot open. She turned to Naruto with a surprised look, "This stuff really is super good!" She shouted, jumping out of her stool and begging for more, bewildered by the quality of the ramen.

At least this is what Naruto saw, in reality Sasame had a more, _subdued_ reaction. She slowly ate the rest of the ramen while Naruto happily began digging into his third bowl.

* * *

Sasame told them that she had to go home since her older cousin wanted to start instructing her in her clan's jutsu. They wished her goodbye and started on their way home.

As Naruto and Hinata walked together, they made some more small talk as they walked out into the December cold, when Hinata remembered something.

Iruka had announced that the last half of the year, they would be focusing on preparation for the graduation exams to become genin, and that they would be tested on basic Academy ninjutsu. He had them all go through the jutsu as a preliminary, just to see where the class was.

Naruto was able to do the substitution and transformation jutsu easily. This was not a surprise since the transformation jutsu was something he mastered at a young age and had been using it for years. He figured out the substitution jutsu while studying the Hirashin basics. Like the Hirashin, it was a transportation jutsu, but unlike the Hirashin, it was ninjutsu, as opposed to fuinjutsu.

However when it came to the Clone jutsu, he was not able to make a single passable clone. This worried Hinata, since she really wanted him to pass for two reasons. First, she wanted him to take the next step towards becoming Hokage, him being held back in the Academy would not let him develop as a ninja. The second reason was a bit more selfish, as she wanted to have a chance to be on the same genin squad as him later that year.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry to interrupt but to make things clear, in this fic Naruto did not fail the graduation exams three times before this year. It didn't make sense that he graduated at the same age as the rest of his class so consider this his first time taking it. Now back to your regularly scheduled fanfic.**

* * *

"Um… Naruto-kun?" She asked, getting his attention.

"Yeah? What's up?"

She poked her index fingers, trying to find a way to put her words in a way that didn't hurt his feelings, "I noticed that you were… um… having trouble with the clone jutsu. I think I could help you train on it." She looked at her feet, waiting for him to respond.

He rubbed his head and laughed nervously, remembering the sickly white and completely unpassable clone he had made before.

"Any help would be appreciated Hinata. Thanks a bunch, dattebayo!"

They planned to meet during the break and work on all the things they would need to know. They would spend mornings reviewing the academic information they would be tested on and then afternoons would be spent on ninjutsu training. They both parted as they went to their respective homes, Hinata bracing for the toughness of the Hyuga and Naruto bracing for the loneliness of his apartment.

Although, today, both of them felt a little less lonely.

* * *

**So, I introduced a lot in this chapter, let me see if I can make some things clear. Number one, I think Hiruzen is depicted horribly in the anime. For someone as strong as he is, how is it that he cannot learn from his mistakes? It doesn't make any sense at all. He needs to have a sense of what needs to be done. I aim to create a Hiruzen like that in this AU. Next thing, Hiashi. He doesn't have much screen time but I don't really think he is a bad guy. There are a lot of fics that bash him a lot. But I feel like he is different from that. He had never hated Naruto, and in the anime, I think that he even respected him for changing Neji. That's why I think he deserves to be depicted this way. **

**Secondly, some filler episode characters make their debut in my AU in this chapter! As you guys may have guessed, yes it will effect genin teams later. Another thing that I think was horribly done in the anime. There was no way that a team of just trackers should be called 'balanced'. If the Hokage had done any research into how the students used their jutsu, he could have easily created more effective teams. I'm not gonna spoil anything now, but you guys can guess all you want what the teams will be. **

**In regards to the addition of characters here, I do not like adding in OCs. They just seem, unnatural most of the time. Although I do have to admit, I do have a few OCs planned ahead but mainly as a plot device. No I will not say any details about them. **

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Please leave reviews and I will see you guys when I find enough time to write chapter 3!**

**Edit (9/15/19): Thank you thor94 for the review, I feel like I should explain why Hiashi doesn't know for sure about Naruto's jinchuriki status. At this point, only the elders (Danzo, Homura, and Koharu) know about his jinchuriki status. While civilians hear rumors about him being the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, they don't really know for sure but do not care. Hiashi on the other hand, is a logical person so I don't think that he would just make those assumptions.**

**Edit (9/17/19): Yeah... on second thought not having the council know would royally screw up the story line and opened up way too many plotholes. So now please ignore that last edit. Also, it has been brought up in a few reviews and PMs, but I thought I should mention it here. Karin. Yes I know it may seem like I'm just throwing her away to become one of Sasuke's fangirls but to be honest, that's how she was depicted in the anime so I thought that would be the first thing she'd notice. Don't worry though, the Uzumaki clansmen will find each other next chapter. I'm a bit swamped with work but I thought I would at least make this edit to show that I still care about the story, rather than come out just as the next chapter comes out. Hopefully I can get it out by the weekend.**


	3. Clanship & Family

**A/N: First off, wow. I did not expect this much support for this fic. I honestly didn't think that over 100 people follow and more than 60 people favorited my shitty writing. I can't thank you guys enough! Really, I don't think I even compare to any of _my_ favorite fics on here. I do appreciate the support and hopefully I can continue working on this story. As of right now I do want to warn that these first few chapters are coming out a bit quick. The reason for this is because before even publishing chapter 1 I had already written as far as the beginning of the chunin exams. However, it still takes some time because when I was initially preparing this fic, I only aimed for about 5k words per chapter. Now I know that just because a chapter is 10k words, doesn't make it inherently better. I just realized that the story flowed much too quickly for my taste and I think that at this pace it is a comfortable read, well maybe not these first few chapters, since their main purpose is to establish the AU and the rest of the world. So sit back, and enjoy the read!**

**Key (For the whole fanfic):**

_Italics – _Thoughts, Flashbacks

**Bold **– Tailed Beast/Summon animals talking (i.e. Kurama, Gamabunta, etc…)

Underline – Jutsu Name

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't have rights to Naruto or any related characters. The day it happens is the day that I'll become Hokage. **

* * *

Chapter 3: Clanship & Family

* * *

Silence, pure and undisturbed peace.

He would often come here to think. To reflect. To escape. It was his special place, where nobody would disturb him. Nobody pestered him. Nobody bullied him for being Naruto Uzumaki.

He sat on the stone face of the Yondaime Hokage. It was the best part of Konoha in his eyes. He could see the whole village stretching out before him. Since these stone faces were off-limits, he didn't have to worry about villagers tormenting him.

_Why? Why do they do it?_ It was a question that Naruto, despite his twelve years of living, had failed to answer. He was not known for being too terribly analytical, but that was on purpose. He rarely ever showed this side of him to anyone. He was too concerned with keeping up the image of the happy, carefree hooligan to let his real mind shine through.

After he and Hinata parted ways the day before, he felt warm, like… he wasn't alone anymore. When he approached his home again, he didn't really feel the cold of loneliness anymore. It was as if Hinata had lit the furnace in his soul that warmed his living space.

He still couldn't really comprehend what was going on, until one word formed in his head. _Bonds._

Something he had thought impossible for himself; he had created in just a few months. It was enough to put a smile on his face. Though he was a far cry from achieving his goal as Hokage, he was still on his way to get people to acknowledge him.

_It all started because jii-san and Iruka-sensei believed in me._ He thought, remembering the moment that changed his outlook completely.

Ever since Iruka had said those words, Naruto began working harder than ever before. This was evidenced in his performance during the project that he had presented to the class. He had studied fūinjutsu like his life depended on it. He had been hoping that he could possibly master the famous jutsu devised by the Nidaime Hokage, but there was still too much missing information for that. It would have been so cool to have the jutsu that made the Yondaime the 'Yellow Flash of Konoha'.

He didn't even recognize the change of his work ethic until Iruka had pointed it out to him.

They had been having one of their weekly ramen dinners at Ichiraku's when Naruto was telling Iruka about his new endeavor. It had shocked the chunin to see just how well Naruto was applying himself to his classwork, now that he had real motivation. It seemed he had a much bigger impact on the boy that he had thought.

It was something that made Iruka immensely happy. Ever since he had heard and been inspired by the Sandaime's talk about the Will of Fire, Iruka knew that his lifetime goal would be to have that same effect on one of his students, and to continue to foster the next generation of Konoha Shinobi.

Despite all of this, Naruto was still troubled, other than his new friends, the vast majority Konoha treated him as if he was a disease. It never made sense. It didn't make sense now. So why did it bother him so much?

_Kyūbi brat. _

_Monster._

_Disgusting child._

He wasn't on top of the mountain anymore. He was back at the first and last festival he had ever went to.

He was surrounded by the village he called home, but this place was not as welcoming as one would call their home. Ghostly figures howled and screamed as he heard the voices of scorn, agony, and hatred swirl around him. He felt himself shrink until these wraiths towered over him.

He looked frantically around, trying to find a way out. He was hyperventilating now. His heart was pounding in his chest. He felt a kick in his abdomen, then his head, then someone swept his legs out and he fell down. He just remembered tumbling around, screaming for someone to save him. With a sickening thud, he hit the ground, making the spirits around him jeer in celebration.

**Kill, them…**

A chill went down his spine, he looked frantically around for the source of the deep, demonic voice he just heard. The spirits had fled, the village was completely empty.

**Kill them…**

Again, it called out to him. Tears streamed down his face, he was scared out of his mind. This was too much. His anxiety attacks had never been this bad before. What was going on.

**KILL ALL WHO CAUSED YOU SUCH PAIN!**

He then felt, something awful. Something malicious, purely evil, was radiating from a spot right behind him. Slowly he turned, fearing for the worst.

Nothing came, he just turned, and the darkness disappeared. A worried, Iruka was looking down on him in horror shouting his name.

"Naruto wake up! Are you okay?!" Iruka yelled frantically.

Naruto looked around and saw that he was at the base of the mountainside that the Hokage faces were carved into. He felt a dull pain all throughout his body, the various bruises all over him confirmed what had happened.

"S-Sorry, Iruka-sensei… I… uh… guess I wasn't paying attention. I think I'm okay" Naruto said, though not with his usual smile. He was too deep in thought, trying to understand what just happened.

Iruka looked at his student in worry, if he hadn't been delivering this fall's Academy results to the Hokage office, he would have never found Naruto like this. He shuddered at the thought of what some of the villagers would have done, had they seen the blond lying, defeated on the ground.

"Are you sure? I could take you to the hospital and have them check up on you." Iruka worryingly added on. Naruto just responded by shaking his head and getting up, albeit, a little painfully.

"Don't worry sensei! I heal quick, I'll be fine after about a day or two! See ya!" He put on his smile, in hopes Iruka wouldn't worry about him. _I need some time. _He thought as he ran away.

What had just been said to him bothered him. Yes, he was angry about his treatment. But killing all those who had hurt him just seemed, well wrong. Yet this darkness had told him, no… it had _commanded_ him to take his revenge.

The more he thought about it, the more confused he got. One could argue that those who treated him so poorly should suffer but at the same time… what good would it do? People would only know him as a killer and then he would be 100% sure that he indeed _was _a demon.

_Is it worth it? Maybe I won't be frustrated anymore about why these people hate me. I'll have given them a reason. No… I want to be acknowledged, not feared… right?_

He shook his head, thinking of such things right now wouldn't do him any good, he was determined to spend his winter break training to be a better shinobi, he would return to this _after_ he graduated from the Academy. He made that promise to himself as he raced home.

* * *

Hiruzen was not surprised when the red-haired woman was escorted into his office. He was not surprised to see the genuine happiness on her face. Yes, these moments where when it was truly great to be a Kage.

Moments where he could help those in need made all those hours spent on paperwork worth it. It made all those infuriatingly long council meetings worth it. It made the stress on his old body worth it.

Kazane Uzumaki had come to Hiruzen on that night in October with the intent of immigrating to Konoha. The difficulties of covering up her disappearance from Kusagakure had taken a few months, he had hoped that they already believed her to be dead, but this woman was no shinobi, she was not trained to cover her tracks.

Thankfully, those in Kusa never had any interest in the woman's clan, and as such did not realize that she was of the now – or previously believed to be – extinct Uzumaki clan. The ANBU under Hiruzen were able to conjure up enough false evidence to convince the Kusa officials that arrived in Konoha that the woman they believed had run away had died somewhere between Konoha and Kusa.

While her healing abilities were treasured by the Kusa officials, their village needed more immediate attention, so they begrudgingly gave up on searching. This allowed the woman and her child to live peacefully in Konoha while Hiruzen worked on getting their IDs in place, along with all of the papers necessary for full citizenship. The woman didn't even need to change her legal name, since Kusa hadn't even bothered to give her or her child proper citizenship.

"Hokage-sama… I… cannot thank you enough." The woman said, completely overjoyed.

How long had it been that she was on the run? When was the last time she truly felt safe? Here in this village, she wouldn't be forced to heal and give her chakra away like a slave, and she would be able to stay alive and be there for her daughter too.

"Despite all that you have done for me…" Kazane faltered, "I still have one request from you."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, letting her know to continue. She was a kind woman, who was free from greed. If she wanted something, it would more than likely be something that he could grant…

"I was wanting to take the other Uzumaki under my care," she said, breaking the silence of Hiruzen's thoughts. "I know that he is an orphan, but I am willing to be the mother that he needs."

Hiruzen sighed deeply. How could he explain to her what Naruto's… burden was? It remained an S-rank secret, known only to those on the Council.

It was a conflict that did not go unnoticed by the Uzumaki, having seen the frown that developed on his face. However, just like her distant relative Naruto, she possessed a stubbornness that was unrivaled by any outside their clan.

"I know I may be asking for a lot, but I know what it is like to wonder if you have family." Hiruzen winced at her words, "While I had Karin with me, he had nobody, I want him to feel at home with us. I also do not like that this whole village scorns him."

Kazane now looked directly at Hiruzen, "From what I heard, all that boy has done are some harmless pranks but those don't explain the immense hatred that I see getting thrown at him." She sighed, "That boy deserves a family, he needs someone to comfort him. I am willing to play that role for him no matter what." She said, finishing with a confident stare at the Sandaime.

Hiruzen chuckled, "You remind me so much of Mito-sama, she was just as adamant as you when it came to kinship and blood ties." Kazane looked skeptically, wondering where he was going.

"The case of Naruto Uzumaki is a special one." He started, _I think I might as well let her know, better she learned the truth from me rather than from the rumor mill. _

With a handsign he activated the privacy seals in his room. While there was only the ANBU guard outside the door, he did not want this secret leaked, even to his most trusted operatives.

"What I am about to reveal to you is an S-ranked secret, punishable by death. Do you swear to secrecy?"

Kazane nodded, having already made up her mind.

"Naruto-kun has a special burden placed on him, he maintains the power between nations. He has the potential to deter war as well as the potential to start it. He is the one who protects us all from absolute annihilation." Kazane nodded slowly, not seeing what exactly he meant.

Hiruzen then opened his closed eyes and looked straight at her.

"What do you know about the Kyūbi no Kitsune?" He asked.

She was a bit confused by his line of questioning and shrugged.

"I do not know much, but even in Kusa, we heard about the destruction that beast caused…" suddenly a terrified look came across her eyes, "You… you don't mean…"

"Yes, while many in this village believe the fox to be killed, it was, in fact, sealed inside a baby Uzumaki. That Uzumaki being Naruto-kun himself." Hiruzen finished, confirming the redhead's conclusion.

She sat in silence, taking in the news. She hadn't expected something like this. She had just assumed that the nicknames used when referring to the boy were just that… nicknames. But to think that he had a demon inside of him…

Anger suddenly filled her. Why? Why couldn't this short-minded village see what that boy was doing for them? Without him, this village would have been burnt to ashes long ago. If not from the Kyūbi, then it would be from the subsequent wars that would have broken out, due to the weakened state of the village.

Having fled from a destroyed village, Kazane knew how the village's strength kept opponents at bay. In a moment of weakness, Kusagakure became the victim of a brutal conflict, thus resulting in her becoming a slave for them.

"It still does not change my opinion; I would still like to be his caretaker and mother figure if the boy deems fit." She said, with unwavering confidence.

Hiruzen smiled sadly at her, "While it makes me happy to hear that you care so much for him, I am not sure I could do that."

"Why not?" She said, with slightly concealed anger. Kazane was not someone who would burst out with emotions, preferring to be more gentle and calm.

"Well, If I were to give him into your custody, I assume you would want to reinstate the Uzumaki clan here in Konoha, would you not?" To this the woman nodded, she had visited the old clan compound. It was built into the mountainside that acted as Konoha's border. Several of the buildings had been decimated during the Kyūbi attack, but the general lack of Uzumakis explained the dustiness of the once bustling compound.

Due to their skill in fūinjutsu, the barriers placed on the compound were quite thorough and protected the interiors of each building that still stood. Only Kazane, with her Uzumaki blood, was able to enter. She had not gone too far in, since she was only inspecting the place.

She had indeed planned to move there with her daughter as well as Naruto. But Hiruzen's expression made it seem it wouldn't be that simple.

"With his jinchūriki status, Naruto-kun cannot be bound to a clan, since his loyalties must remain towards Konoha. As such, I have not already adopted him into my clan," Hiruzen said this with a bitter sadness. He had always cared so much for the boy, and wanted to be there for him, but Naruto's burden even prevented kindness from being offered to him.

"There has to be a way. I don't care what those other clan heads say but he needs someone to look after him." Kazane felt defeated, why could it be so hard just to help out family?

"Relax," Hiruzen had already planned for this difficulty. "When he turns sixteen or attains the rank of chunin, I can name him as clan head of the Uzumaki clan. As such, you will all be able to live on the Uzumaki Compound together."

"The boy is only twelve now, are you sure this is the only way?" She was hoping he would say no.

"I know it seems like a long time, but trust me, you should not underestimate Naruto-kun, he can be surprisingly resourceful." He said with a smile.

Kazane contemplated her options, in the end this seemed like the best option for her. Wait until the boy was old enough to be named clan head and then move in with him. The best part was that since their "clan" only consisted of three people, they wouldn't have to attend the council meetings.

Kazane sighed, defeatedly, but then she got an idea, "While the laws say he cannot be legally part of my family and that I cannot live with him, it does not say anything about befriending the boy does it?" She said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"No, I suppose it does not…"

"Well then, I better be on my way, thank you again Hokage-sama." Kazane quickly, yet gracefully stood up and walked out of the room after bowing to Hiruzen.

The Sandaime could only wonder what that woman was planning, he only realized after she had left how close they were to a specific holiday.

* * *

As the night reached its midpoint, a cloaked figure was running across the rooftops. His wooden getta were removed so that he didn't wake anyone up.

Jiraiya had finally finished the most recent long-term mission he was assigned. His sensei had assigned him to discreetly aid the rebels, keeping Konoha's name out of it. In fact, the only one from the rebels who really knew of his involvement was their leader, Mei Terumi. Jiraiya had also been tasked with providing Hiruzen with updates on the situation.

It seemed that the Kiri rebels had the upper hand. Ever since Zabuza joined their ranks, they had won several key battles. What worried him was the Yondaime Mizukage.

According to his intelligence, all evidence pointed to him being under someone's control. It was worrying that someone had managed to trick someone as powerful as the Sanbi jinchūriki. It was rumored that the man had complete control over his bijū, and as such had been named Mizukage.

What worried him more than a fully tamed bijū, was the strange change in the Mizukage's demeanor. From the reports he got of people who had been close to Yagura, the short-statured man had been friendly and very kind in his younger years and in his rise to Mizukage. However, all of the laws he implemented went completely against Jiraiya's initial assessment of the man's character.

What could be the reason? Maybe he hadn't fully tamed his bijū? Or maybe... he was being controlled by an even greater power. The thought made him shudder. Yagura was a powerful shinobi as is, the ones pulling the strings must be something to be able to control him.

He knew that the rebels had to, at some point, face the Mizukage, but he had confidence in their abilities. A few of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were aiding the rebellion, seeing the tyranny in the Mizukage's ways. Among them were the fearsome Jinin Akebino and Zabuza Momochi. Zabuza had tried years ago to stage a coup, wanting the title of Mizukage for himself, but after the pitiful attempt, the man had found the rebel alliance and joined their cause.

Other than these two, there was also Ameyuri Ringo, who had not officially taken her spot amongst the renowned group, yet that is. The rebel forces were still trying to find where Raiga Kurosuki had fled, since Ameyuri had been training under him in order to be his successor and the next wielder of the Kiba blades.

While they only had two of the Seven Swordsmen, Jiraiya noted that they did have some promising new recruits. Two boys, one by the name of Chojuro and the other was Suigetsu Hozuki. The latter was more impressive, being the younger brother of the legendary Mangetsu Hozuki, who nearly mastered every hidden blade.

Arriving in his sensei's office and perched on the windowsill, Jiraiya had alerted the Hokage of his presence.

"It's been a long time Jiraiya, almost too long." Hiruzen said, turning to face his student.

Jiraiya smiled, "Well, at least I was able to publish a new book this time!" He said with a perverted giggle as he handed his 'homecoming' gift to his sensei.

Hiruzen's eyes widened for a fraction of a second and a little drop of blood came out of his nose in anticipation of Jiraiya's latest release. The little orange book glowed with its title, 'Icha Icha: Paradise'. He quickly recovered in time to hear Jiraiya's briefing of the exact situation in Kirigakure. He frowned at the notion that the Mizukage was being controlled. Despite this the news was quite good in his case.

As of yet, no formal treaty had been signed between Konoha and Kiri, but with their current progress, Jiraiya estimated that within the year, Kiri would be liberated. Only Mei knew about the extent of Hiruzen's involvement and considered Konoha a powerful ally.

But now, something else was on Hiruzen's mind.

"Jiraiya, you did not ask me how Naruto-kun was doing, do you want to know?" He asked, eyeing his student.

Jiraiya just sighed, he knew he had been a horrible godfather to Naruto. He regretted not being there for him his whole life. He had heard from Sarutobi about the atrocities that befell the boy, but his job required him to be out of the village for long periods of time. At most, he would usually only spend a week back in Konoha, usually just to 'visit' the bathhouses and get 'inspiration' for his best-selling works.

"Sorry, sensei, I just…" Jiraiya sighed, the thought of the boy hurt so much. Doubly so for him, since when he looked at the boy, all he saw was his failure in keeping Minato alive.

"I know, it is hard to not think about your mistakes Jiraiya, but I will be the first to tell you, you need to move on. Do not forget the people who are gone but live to cherish their memory. Facing Naruto-kun is tough for me too." his sensei's face contorted, showing his true age for once. "Every time I see him he reminds me so much of Minato, and when he opens his mouth he reminds me more of Kushina." He chuckled to himself and the white-haired sannin also smiled on sadly.

"But I am committed to protecting him and this village, and to do that I must be there for him, to talk to, and to guide. I fear that if I had left him alone, he could have become a monster at this point."

Hiruzen then looked up at his student, eyeing him, "I hear that he is about to take the Academy graduation exam." Hiruzen said, "Since many of his teachers do not like teaching him, he will need someone to train him and get him ready to become a genin. Wouldn't you agree?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.

"Ha." Jiraiya scoffed, "The Academy curriculum is bullshit, any half-assed shinobi could pass it with their eyes closed. If I were you, and I'm not saying I want to be," Hiruzen scowled, "I would make the Academy curriculum a bit tougher, and actually teach them useful skills and better prepare them for the Ninja world. As of right now, I doubt he would need much help." Hiruzen stared angrily at his student, and Jiraiya held up his hand to stop the upcoming lecture, "Don't worry sensei, you're right. I need to face him. Maybe in a few weeks. I... need to sort out my own thoughts first."

Hiruzen then softened his gaze and sighed, "Well then, I will let you go on your way, and Jiraiya?"

The toad sage looked back, one leg already out the window.

"Please, show restraint around the bathhouses this time. I don't want Naruto-kun picking up on your habits"

The Sannin just winked and jumped out the window, heading to the nearest bar that was open.

* * *

"So… um… sorry to ask again but why exactly did the Second Great War start?"

It had been several weeks now. Hinata had been spending her time tutoring Naruto on all the academic material that they had learned over the years. Sasame was busy training with her older cousin, and Shikamaru and Choji just couldn't be bothered to study.

The study sessions were good for Hinata since she had to make sure she really understood the concepts before explaining them to Naruto.

Naruto on the other hand… well let's just say that he found it completely useless and when he found something useless…

"Ugh my brain feels like it's melting, maybe we should take a break Hinata-chan?" Naruto exclaimed, falling back in his chair, exasperated.

Hinata let out a small sigh of relief. Normally, she wouldn't mind studying, she DEFINITELY didn't mind studying with Naruto, but they had been working for some time now and even her brain was beginning to numb.

"Hey Hinata-chan?" Naruto said, getting up, "How about we spar like we promised earlier?" He grinned ear to ear, a glint coming into his eye.

Hinata blushed and cursed her heart for speeding up. No matter how comfortable she had gotten in his presence over the last few months, she was still a victim to his smile. The way his whiskers crinkled as his smile took over, the way his eyes gleamed with happiness. She never really understood how he did it, she knew better than anyone how much sadness was trapped behind his eyes. Yet when he smiled to her, it was as if the sadness never even existed.

She nodded in affirmation and let Naruto guide her out of his apartment and to a training field. It was lightly dusted with snow, though not enough to cover the ground. A big snowfall was predicted on her birthday in four days, so they were okay for now.

"Alright! Remember Hinata-chan! No holding back and no hard feelings afterwards!" Naruto smirked as he entered his fighting stance.

Hinata giggled at him and replied, "O-Okay Naruto-kun" She said through a small smile as she dropped her hands into the Gentle Fist fighting stance.

Naruto looked at her quizzically, _what a weird stance._ He thought to himself. He then shook his head and charged.

Hinata made a handsign and shouted, "Byakugan!" The veins on her face popped out as her brain took in the 360-degree panoramic view around her. She saw Naruto barreling towards her, his fist cocked back for a haymaker punch.

She dodged easily, rolling under his arm. She got up, almost ready to attack when he appeared in front of her again, this time leading with a wild kick aimed nowhere in particular. Hinata ducked under the kick and aimed at the Tenketsu at his ankle. When he dropped his right foot to regain his footing, his ankle buckled, and he fell to the ground.

"Whoa what was that?" He cried as he rubbed his butt, getting off the ground.

"Oh sorry Naruto-kun! I didn't mean to hurt you." Hinata said, scared out of her mind.

Naruto just chuckled as her turned to address her, "No Hinata-chan, you're fine. I told you to go all out anyways! Was that what your family's taijutsu can do?" He was surprised, for someone like Hinata, it was a powerful fighting style. He was impressed by her strength and wanted to know more.

Hinata blinked as relief flowed through her body. _If he's smiling it can't be that bad._ She thought as she explained how the Gentle Fist systematically took down a person by inflicting internal damage. Since she had tutored Naruto on the anatomy of the chakra structure, he understood what tenketsu were and didn't need too much explanation. Afterwards he just grinned and returned to sparring.

They traded blows back and forth, well, more like Hinata dodged every one of Naruto's wild and uncontrolled attacks and managed to land tenketsu strikes on him as he flailed around. She wasn't putting any chakra in them, since she knew how much it hurt. Naruto showed no signs of noticing this. He continued to attack, in his odd and unrefined form. He did manage to catch her by surprise once and swept her feet out from under her with a kick from his left leg.

However, he wasn't able to take advantage as Hinata rolled backwards gracefully, out of the reach of his short arms. She got up to him bearing down on her. She barely had time to think as she instinctively dodged and watched as he ran... face-first into a tree. With a sickening crunch, he was knocked back and fell to the ground, a dazed look coming over his eyes.

Hinata's breath caught in her chest as she deactivated her Byakugan and ran over to Naruto. "Oh no Naruto-kun are you okay?" She asked, concern lacing her voice. She grabbed his shoulders and gently shook him out of his daze. He was groaning and holding his head. She instinctively activated her Byakugan, seeing if there were any broken bones. She gasped as she saw his nose quickly repairing itself, within a few seconds it was as if he had never been hit there his entire life. As soon as she deactivated her kekkei genkai, her was staring at her and _smiling._ Her face immediately colored as red as a neon sign and steam began to come off her head.

"Wow that was amazing Hinata-chan! You really are super strong!" Naruto said as he smiled at her.

She bit her lip in embarrassment, nobody had ever called her strong before. She was not used to taking compliments and it made the whole situation awkward for her.

She immediately turned away to hide her blush from him. Naruto looked at her in confusion. _What's going on? Did I say something wrong? Is she mad?_

"Um... sorry Hinata-chan, I didn't mean to..."

She turned quickly, cursing herself for becoming self-conscious from a compliment on her fighting.

"N-No its okay... um… thank you Naruto-kun. You did take me by surprise a few times but I…" She paused, this part was hardest to admit about herself, "I am still too weak." She said, sadly.

Naruto looked at her and waved his finger in a scolding manner, "Don't say that! You're really strong, you had me there!"

Hinata blushed even harder at the continued praise. _H-He actually thinks that I am strong?_

He looked at the setting sun, not realizing how late It was. "Well! Looks like I'll have to go, see you later Hinata-chan!" He said as he got up and dusted his clothes off.

"Um… Naruto-kun," Hinata started, poking her fingers together. "I… can't train this week." She replied sadly.

He was confused, "Hmm? Why not?"

"Well… Christmas is coming up and so is my birthday, I will be needed at the Hyuga Compound." She said, still not looking up.

"Oh," Naruto replied. He forgot about Christmas, mostly because he never had anyone to celebrate with. The holiday only brought him sadness.

He would usually just sit inside by himself, keeping himself busy by either gardening or watching TV. He would sometimes leave the house to sit on top of the Yondaime's head and reflect on the whole city. Either way, he knew it was a special day for everyone else so he wouldn't let his attitude ruin it for his friend.

He had an idea suddenly, and a smile crept on him face, "Oh your birthday, huh? When is it?" He grinned at her as she looked up.

"It's the 27th, I will be celebrating it with my clan." She said bitterly. Celebration wasn't really the word she would use to describe her birthday.

This holiday season only reminded her of the pain of growing up a failure. Every year, her clan would just talk behind her back about how useless and weak she was.

She tried as hard as she could to forget about it, but tears were slowly forcing their way out of her eyes. She then remembered _Naruto-kun is so strong, he smiles even when he is sad! If he can do it, so can I! I need to be strong!_ The memory pushed her emotions away and a small smile crept onto her face.

Despite her smile, Naruto recognized something about it. It was _his _smile. The one he put on when he faked his happy attitude to the world. He knew she was sad but decided that it would be better to not call her out on it. "Oh I see, well, happy early birthday Hinata-chan!" He said as he smiled. "I have to get going so I won't keep you any longer. See ya!" He waved as he ran off.

Hinata's heart was doing its own taijutsu exercise against her ribs, Her stomach was flying around inside her and her nerves were on fire. _He… wished me… happy birthday?!_ She thought incredulously. She then turned and walked back to the Hyuga compound dreaming of spending Christmas and her birthday with her precious Naruto-kun.

* * *

He stared out his window. Each home in Konoha reminded him of a candle. The warm yellow glow of lights stuck out from the white background. Each of these pockets of warmth seemed, so close… but so far at the same time.

It wasn't a new feeling. This happened almost every year. The residents of Konoha would all go with their families and spend time with family and with each other. Thought, they never wanted to spend time with him.

If he even dared to step foot into town for whatever reason, he would be met with hateful glares, shopkeepers closing their stores early not for the Christmas holiday, but because the refused to serve him.

He began wondering, was it worth enduring all the hatred, all the malice, all the mean words and bullying. Was it worth it in the end just to look past that and continue working hard? He was scared, the voice from the anxiety attack he had a few days ago had told him to kill, to destroy.

The offer was tempting.

Sure, he could kill every single one of the people in the village, why wouldn't he? They clearly didn't want to treat him as human, they would rather have him die some horrible death. But in the end, would it really help him?

The Sandaime had made a habit of rambling on about hatred and peace to Naruto, thinking the boy would probably not be paying any attention. However, contrary to that, Naruto had listened. If he wasn't being scolded by the man, he took each and every one of his lessons to heart. His 'jii-san' – as he called him – was one of the few people he truly trusted. The man had never treated Naruto wrongly and let the boy get away with a lot.

Thinking about Hiruzen, Naruto wondered what the old man would think. _He would probably be extremely disappointed in me, I'm pretty sure at that point he would lose whatever trust he has in me. _He grimaced, _I would look like a monster in his eyes, no I can't do it. _

He looked up at the bare ceiling of his bedroom, _But what can I do?_

His ramblings were cut short by a quick knock at his door. He tensed, usually when someone was knocking on his door, it wasn't a good sign. He got out of bed and silently walked over to the doors on his tiptoes.

_If Iruka-sensei saw how I look he would no doubt force me through that stealth straining exercise again._ The boy thought, seeing himself in the reflection of a mirror in the hallway. He indeed looked ridiculous, but stealth had never really been his forte, he preferred a more… direct approach.

When he got to the door and looked through the peephole, he was surprised to not see anyone there. Though he swore he could see a small bit of red…

"Helloooo?! Is anyone there?" A red-haired girl asked, jumping up to the peephole and making herself visible.

"AHHHHH!" Naruto screamed and immediately fell backwards from shock.

As he fell back, he knocked down a coat rack and ended up getting strangled by his own winter jacket. After thrashing around uselessly for a few minutes he freed himself from the outerwear and got off the ground.

Swearing and cursing himself he got up and opened his door slightly to see his classmate and fellow Uzumaki.

Karin and Naruto had not really interacted in the months since she had arrived in Konoha. Naruto had tried to talk but was not able to break what he called the Uchiha Curse Jutsu that was placed on her.

Seemingly more powerful than any genjutsu, it seemed to only work on females of his age. It would render them completely useless and infatuated with Sasuke. It was proven by their words that this jutsu ensnared its captives by filling their heads with false hopes that Sasuke would even remotely return their affections.

As such, all conversation with the girl had been rendered useless, much to Naruto's dismay. However, what was she doing here now?

"Um…" She fidgeted in place. She was extremely nervous and did Naruto see… guilt?

"I'm… I'm sorry, Naurto." Karin said, shocking the blond.

_She… she's sorry? Well, better late than never, I guess…_

He smiled at her, "Oh it's okay, you don't have…"

"No," Karin said firmly, "I do, I didn't realize what I was doing and turned my back on my own family. What I did was terrible, and I wanted to say that I am truly sorry."

She then started nervously scratching the back of her head, causing Naruto to tilt his in curiosity.

"Would, you… by chance want to come over to my apartment and celebrate Christmas Eve with me and my mother? We would love to have you over." She finally said with a smile.

To say that Naruto was shocked would be an understatement.

For the first time in his life, Naruto Uzumaki was not sure whether he was ecstatic, flabbergasted, or a bit of both. Had he heard her right?

"You… want me" He pointed at himself, emphasizing his point, "To come to _your_ home, for Christmas?" He asked, still trying to understand completely what was going on.

"Well, that's what I said, didn't I?" She said, tilting her head inquisitively.

What made her cousin question her like that? Karin wondered why someone would be so taken back by that statement, unless…

Her eyes widened, "You've… never celebrated Christmas before, have you?"

Naruto could only nod as he sadly looked at the floor, "Yeah, I don't really like talking about that." He was about to walk back inside until he felt a hand grab the back of his jacket. He was whirled around to face a rather adamant-looking Karin.

"Then you don't have a choice! You will come over right now, grab your jacket Na…" She hesitated, then smiled, "Grab your jacket nii-san"

The affectionate 'nii-san' did not go unnoticed by the young blond boy. He snapped out of his daze instantly and looked at Karin with a huge smile that spelled out every sort of thanks that he wanted to convey.

* * *

Kazane was hurriedly preparing her small apartment for their guest. It pained her to call him that. She had very much wanted to call the boy her son, but knowing his burden, this was her best option.

Despite this, she had tried her absolute hardest to make her home feel comfortable for the child. She was rushing around, tidying up all the rooms. She was stressed until she entered her daughter's room.

Now, Kazane Uzumaki was not one to get angry. As her name suggested, she was as gentle as the sound the wind. But, with her Uzumaki blood, that only meant that all that emotion would be tapped into when she was provoked.

When she walked into Karin's room, the amount of killing intent that she released was surprising for a civilian. It would be enough to paralyze even some genin.

Even Karin, who was walking with Naruto on their way to her home, shuddered.

"Umm… nee-chan? Is everything all right? You just got a lot paler." Naruto asked the clearly frightened girl. Luckily for him, he wasn't a sensitive sensor like her. He could not sense the murderous thoughts that were spewing from her mother's direction.

"Uh… I think we should probably hurry home." Karin said dumbly as they rushed towards her home. She knew that if she tried to run, her mother would just find her with that annoying 'sixth-sense' she had also been born with.

_Well, it's been good knowing you, nii-san. I probably won't be alive after this…_

* * *

Karin knew for a fact that she would be dead the second Naruto left when she saw her mother's bright smiling face. It was the way she crossed her arms, holding a ladle in her right like some kind of crude club.

Karin was not as organized as her mother liked her to be. As such, she would usually just throw all the clothes, scrolls, and ninja tools she had into her closet whenever her mother had wanted her to clean. It seemed like her mother had finally found that out, and while she hated messes, she hated being lied to even more.

"Welcome Naruto-kun," Her mother said with a sweet voice. _Oh yes, I will die._ Karin gulped, Naruto, being none-the-wiser just looked wondrously at his host.

Kazane was a woman who covered herself modestly, she didn't have anything to prove. Yet despite this, the woman somehow managed to still look elegant, beautiful. Her disposition would emanate a calm aura, even when angry.

Even though he had never known his parents, he felt at home, here with this woman and her daughter. The whole home seemed to be beckoning him in, embracing him with his warmth. For the first time in his life, he felt wanted. This woman radiated such heartfelt tenderness, it was as if she was his... mother.

"Th…Thank you… so much," Naruto said, tears coming to his eyes. He couldn't control himself. He was too happy. A boy who never had any family, one who had been on the receiving end of the hate of an entire village. A boy, who at last, found those he could consider his family.

He ran up to her, crying and hugged her tight, as if she would disappear like his parents had at his birth. He had dreamed up of many different ways his real mother could have looked, while Kazane did not look like any of his 'mothers', the feeling was the same.

The warmness that filled a hole in his heart that he didn't know was there. The feeling of her hand, stroking his hair lovingly as she embraced him too. Like the boy, Kazane valued family very much, and the boy's genuine happiness was something that she felt through her sensory skill, though it wasn't necessary given the sheer amount of gratitude that the boy emitted. It proved to her that she had done the right thing, and it only made her more impatient about the fact that she could not fully adopt the boy.

As Karin watched the exchange, she internally gasped. No, she had not meant to avoid Naruto during their time at the Academy. It's just that there was an ominous, dark, and purely evil chakra that seemed to follow the boy everywhere he went. It had truly scared Karin because she could have sworn that she could hear malevolent laughter coming from that dark cloud.

However, now, Naruto's chakra had changed, as soon as he embraced her mother, his chakra brightened considerably. She squinted her eyes in a foolish attempt to shield her senses but to no avail. His chakra now willingly reached out, interacting with the chakras around it.

It was unusual to Karin, for most people, their chakra would not willingly interact with anyone else. Yet with Naruto, his chakra seemed to move with a mind of its own. It reached out to her mother's chakra and surrounded it, smothering it with his brightness, connecting with it.

_Strange, really strange…_ She would have to ask her mother about this later. Because now the small family was moving towards the dining table. Kazane seated Naruto and motioned for Karin to join them. All her previous anger was gone. She was just full of happiness.

Naruto was having the best time of his life. He never remembered a time which he was truly happy, content, felt so safe. He provided Karin and Kazane with much laughter from his hot takes on the people of the village. Both mother and daughter howled on the floor, laughing their insides out when Naruto explained his theory that their Hokage was a closet pervert. They had laughed at the joke but ultimately did not believe him, saying he was just trying to make them laugh.

"Well I'll just have to prove it then!" He said, mischievous smile on his face.

The rest of the night passed in relative peace. Naruto listened to Kazane's stories of how her and Karin had been on the run for most of their lives. He listened intently to her retelling of their efforts to locate any Uzumaki that was still surviving. They had been lucky to hear the rumor of him living in Konoha, which led to them fleeing to the village.

Naruto had also asked if Kazane could tell anything about the mystic village of Uzushiogakure but sadly, she had little knowledge, since her parents had died early in her life. They had lived in Uzushio when it was attacked but they had been young and barely remembered the village.

Kazane did tell Naruto some of the stories of the powers of Uzumaki fūinjutsu.

"Naruto, do you know about fūinjutsu?" She asked him.

He shot her a mischevious grin, "You bet I do! I studied some basic storage seals for my project, and lets just say, it was a _splashing_ success!"

Kazane just smiled at the boy and shook her head. She had heard of all the pranks he had pulled on the village. Him learning fūinjutsu would just augment his shenanigans to incredible heights.

"Well, the Uzumaki clan were actually masters of that very art." She looked on at the two children, Naruto listening intently while Karin was spacing out, having heard this story already a few times.

"Our clan possesed such strength with seals that we were feared by the rest of the shinobi world," She chuckled at Naruto's awed expression, "The seals of the Uzumaki clan are shrouded in mystery, not that many people could learn them."

"Well, why not?" Naruto asked quizzically, he really wanted to learn these secret techniques, he gripped onto anything that had to do with his clan or background.

"Well, the fūinjutsu of our clan is almost like a kekkei genkai, our chakra and life force are so strong that our clan can accomplish seals that would take ten jonin to perform. These seals are actually what helped develop the seals around you here in Konoha."

She continued to tell him about the history of their clan, as much as she had known about it. Much to Naruto's delight, she mainly talked about their strength in fūinjutsu, telling of the rumors of it's defensive capabilities. It had made the Uzumaki feared as their nation was nearly impenetrable. To this day there was still no explanation for the fall of the village.

In all this, Naruto felt so… at home. It took no time at all, but he had instantly connected with his clansmen, they had welcomed him just as eagerly. They had all been too lonely for too long to be distrustful of each other. Not that anyone had any ulterior motives. No, everyone was just enjoying the feeling of having a family again.

When she was washing the dishes, leaving Naruto and Karin to start a fire in her fireplace, Kazane contemplated how she should tell the boy that she wouldn't be able to take him in. She first thought that maybe it would be better to just not bring it up to him. Maybe he would just not ever decide to ask? No, her conscience wouldn't let her live that down.

She had to talk to the boy, let him know that she truly did want to be his adoptive mother. Maybe if she did, he would feel more comfortable, and wouldn't hesitate to come to her with anything that troubled him. She did hope that he did not bother the Hokage with this business though, she would hate to place a burden on the man that had done so much for her already.

"Naruto-kun, could I talk to you?" Kazane motioned him to join her in the kitchen. She took a deep breath.

"Listen Naruto I know that you are happy here and believe me, and I want to ask you, are you happy here?"

The boy looked thoughtfully around the home. He had indeed loved his time here. This evening was one of the happiest that he had ever spent anywhere. He enjoyed the time that he spent with Karin and her mother, who he considered to be like a mother figure for himself. The way she cared for him, forcing him to eat his fill, taking care of anything that made him even the slightest bit uncomfortable. She felt like someone he could trust with his life, and someone who he didn't need to hide anything from.

"I… I would love too, Kazane-san, but I don't want to be any trouble to you," He said, smiling sadly, "I know how hard it is to feed one mouth, let alone two, I eat a lot of ramen dattebayo!"

Kazane replied to him with a shake of her head and a smile of her own, "No Naruto-kun, it would be no trouble, I would love to have you live with us, but unfortunately," She looked down in dismay, "it seems that due to my current immigration status, I cannot take you in, since you are a born citizen of Konoha." She said, hating that she had to lie to the boy.

She however, underestimated the boy's stubbornness.

He looked at her with a confident gleam in his eyes, adjusting his goggles, "Don't worry! I'll talk to jii-san about it, he'll make some sort of loophole for me!" His smile made Kazane's heart melt, but she was also worried, she was not sure if the boy could take the revelation of his burden, yet she couldn't just tell him to not question the Hokage, it would look like she was trying to hide something. This would result in a loss of trust with the boy. No, she wanted him to be like her son, for that to happen, they would need trust in each other. She would stay silent, acting as if she didn't know anything.

It hurt her on the inside that she had to hide this from the boy, but she did it for his sake. So that he could grow up with someone like her to trust. He needed more of those people, precious people he could trust with his very life.

She pushed the thoughts aside and smiled to him, joining Karin in their celebrations. By the end of the night, both Naruto and Karin had fallen asleep on the floor in the living room. They both had been waiting for the man said to come and give them gifts. Naruto had devised a plan using sealing tags to steal all the gifts the man was rumored to have, and Karin immediately agreed.

Kazane just shook her head in mock disappointment, but still she was extremely happy, if not a bit surprised. She did not know that the boy had already learned some basic seals taught in Konoha. Any doubt that he was really an Uzumaki went out the window. But that didn't matter now. Kazane covered the two cousins, now proclaimed brother and sister, with a warm blanket. She then moved pillows under their head.

She sighed softly from the effort, she stroked both of their heads, giving each of them a kiss on the forehead before turning in for the night.

* * *

The heavy snowfall marked Hinata's birthday, but to her, it was nothing like the celebration it was intended to be. Several gifts were piled behind her, probably the work of Ko and Natsu, the branch house twins has been guardians for Hinata and Hanabi when they were younger. As such, the Hyūga heiress had developed a strong bond with the two. Ko was distant but genuinely polite, whereas Natsu fretted over Hinata and Hanabi like a protective older sister.

Ko and Natsu had been orphaned at a young age, and Hinata's mother had taken care of them, much to the clan elders' frustration. As such, even though they were of the Branch House, the twins felt a sense of gratitude and indebtedness towards the Main House.

Today thought, not even the presence of her two caretakers cheered her up, not with all the whispers of hatred and malice directed at her.

"Hinata-sama just disappoints more every year."

"How can she call herself a Hyūga of the Main Branch?"

"She is weak, it's a shame she was born before Hanabi-sama, so much training time wasted."

"If only Neji was born into the Main House"

Hinata's eyes welled up with tears as she cut her cake. The whole main house of the clan had been invited to the ceremony, but nobody was in a festive mood.

Neji walked up to her and said, "Well Hinata-sama, another year has passed you by, congratulations." He had said it politely enough but Hinata knew that it was just barely laced with contempt.

She remembered a time when a small, shy smile could be seen on his face. She remembered the necklace that he went out of his way to get for her. Just like her mother's locket proved her father could love, it was proof to her that Neji was capable too.

But now, he was so full of hatred, that even Hinata began to doubt that he would ever be the older cousin she had always wanted. His cold voice was always laced with venom whenever addressing her.

The disappointment around her and her cousin's words were just too much. She asked to be excused and took her leave to her room.

* * *

Hiashi was a man of few emotions. Ever since his wife had mysteriously died, he had been a changed man. Back when Hikari was alive, it was the happiest years of his life. His father had originally not approved of them spending time together. She was the daughter of a lesser Main House member, who had some distant relation that made his status shaky at best.

Masaru Hyūga was a stern man, who pushed Hiashi to his physical and mental limits in his climb to the role of clan head. He had eventually and begrudgingly accepted Hikari as his daughter in law, once Hiashi had taken over as clan head.

However, ever since her mysterious death, Hiashi was never seen smiling as he had when he was younger. His source of light was taken from him in the most horrible fashion.

_He had come back from a weeklong diplomacy mission. When he saw his wife, he lost all his dignity. He screamed out, for help, for somebody to save her, for some Kami to appear and give her the life that had been taken. _

_She was broken on the floor in front of him. Two stab wounds, one through the neck and one through her heart. It was definitely the work of an assassin, but who? Who had the gall to murder the wife of such an esteemed clan head? _

_It also spoke to the skill of the assassin, Hikari was an extremely skilled kunoichi, her insight with the Byakugan was unparalleled by any in the clan, even Hiashi. Her gentle fist was different from most, and while her style was incomplete, it was still fearsome. Besides these, she had quite a large chakra reservoir to draw from, something rare in the Hyūga. _

_She had been the love of his life, she had truly loved Hiashi. When they were children, Hiashi would look forward to playing and spending time with her to get away from his father's hellish training. Hikari would always find something to cheer him up. Her smile could light up a room, not that it was very difficult, considering the image the clan had built up over the years. _

_The cold attitude that ruled over their clan was a product of its division, and Hiashi and Hikari had talked about this in great detail during their teenage years. Both of them agreed that it wasn't getting them anywhere. They vowed to change the clan, together. Hikari was fervent about reaching their goal, while Hiashi was a little reserved, since it meant that he would have to go against his father. _

_That's why he had challenged the aged man once Hiashi was confident in his own skills. By beating the man in conflict, he had earned the first proud look he had ever gotten from his father. In all his life, Hiashi was told that what he had done was always just, proficient, enough. He was never praised by Masaru. But that day, he had actually given Hiashi a compliment. It just made Hiashi more anxious that he was going to defy this man._

_But Hikari was there, she helped him and pushed him to work towards their common goal. Thanks to Hikari's friendship with Kushina Uzumaki, they had access to Minato Namikaze who was one of the most skilled fūinjutsu users in Konoha. With him, they had been working in secret on a counter to the Cursed Seal, along with a new seal that would be given to everyone, destroying the Byagukan with their death. _

_However, with Minato becoming Hokage, they were not able to see him as much. While Hikari and Kushina still talked, even their friendship was put on hold, since Kushina abruptly stopped talking to any of her friends. At first Hikari was confused, but with her becoming pregnant with Hinata she too had become busy. _

_They had never gotten to finish their dreams. The Kyūbi attack had annihilated most of the village. It had also taken the lives of the Hokage and his wife. Hikari was deeply distressed. Her friend of almost twenty years was now dead. Secondly, the man who led their village and was helping them on the new seal had also died. _

_It didn't help that because of her stress, she was scared that it would affect Hinata, which just amplified her anxiety. However, the village was rebuilt, they return to the clan compound, and life moved on. The next five years were a blur, as the two had been so discouraged with the result of their discreet efforts to liberate their clan from its burden. _

_Hikari stayed at home, never leaving the Hyūga compound, since she had to take care of Hinata and a newborn Hanabi. If she had, she would have heard of or seen the work of the lone Uzumaki of the village. And with her intuitive mind, she would have been able to put two and two together. But alas, she would never get that chance._

_Hiashi reflected over all of this as he buried his wife. After a thorough investigation there was no results. The trail seemed to go cold in every direction. He had to accept his wife's death and move on. On that day, Hiashi vowed that neither of his daughters, neither of his children would ever be weak enough to let this happen. He would make sure that they would not suffer the same fate as his wife._

Hiashi thought about all of this as he saw Hinata rush out. He wanted with all of his being to make her strong, as of right now, she was a disappointment. At this rate, she would just end up like her mother.

* * *

She changed out of her formal kimono and wore her usual cream-colored jacket and baggy pants as she walked outside. She continued to walk until she got to the park. She sat down on one of the benches and took in the silence of the landscape around her.

The predictions were correct as heavy snowfall created a thick layer of the fine white powder on the ground, muffling all sound. She contemplated her situation.

Almost the entire Main Branch hated her, since they thought that she had wasted Hiashi's time, only to become someone unfit to rule their clan. The Main Branch was full of so much arrogance that they took her submissive and gentle disposition as a sign of weakness, and therefore a sign of someone who did not deserve to live amongst them.

Even Hiashi was disappointed in her, the man whom she wanted to impress the most. She had trained so hard under him, but she had failed to pick up the Gentle Fist fast enough. To make matters worse, she had failed in her fight with Hanabi.

Hinata could not bring herself to hurt her baby sister. Even though she had the opportunity to, she hesitated. Was it really worth hurting your own family to prove your strength? In that moment of hesitation, the battle had turned to Hanabi's favor, causing Hinata to be humiliated. Her father just walked away, shaking his head, telling her she needed to work harder in order to be less of a burden.

She remembered the days when she would play ninja with Hanabi after training. She had enjoyed the time so much because it was a break from the usual hell she faced in the main house. With Hanabi, she could forget about what others thought about her and just have fun.

She wept, now truly alone. She remembered all the years, where she couldn't be strong enough to be acknowledged by her father, much less her clan.

_Why, why couldn't I just be stronger?_ _Why did I have to be born into this clan?_ She sobbed.

She knew there were people who were born to poor families who would kill to have her position. In her mind, however, it was pointless. _What's the point of being born to a rich clan if they don't even treat each other like family?_ She wept more. She had always wanted to be close to her father, Neji, and the rest of her clan just like any other family. All they gave her were cold stares and the occasional disappointed glare.

She took a shaky breath and let out another sob as her shoulders shook and heaved with effort. With all of this going on she didn't notice that the sun had started to bask her in its light.

* * *

_Is that… Hinata-chan?_ Naruto thought to himself as he was walking by the park. He had a small box in his hand as he ran over to her. _Oh no she's crying! I need to do something!_ He slowed down as he walked near and sat down silently next to her.

He put his hand on her shoulder and brought her close to him. He didn't really know what he was doing but he just wanted to comfort her. He hated it when people were sad, and he just wanted to make them happy.

Hinata, not having noticed him, squeaked from the surprise contact. She looked up at him, her eyes glistening and slightly wet from crying. When she saw his face her heart stopped as she realized what he was doing. He had brought her close so that her head rested on his shoulder.

She had been hugged by him before, but this was completely different, he treated her with a softness she had never seen before from him. After a second her heart jump-started itself and once again began its plot to break out of her chest. She didn't care about anything now; she could die just like this and be totally happy. She basked in his warmth and didn't even notice that the blood rushing to her face turned her ivory colored skin a deep crimson.

"Hinata-chan it's alright, you can cry. You don't need to hide anything." Naruto said softly.

Hinata remembered all that had happened and was wracked by a new wave of grief. She sobbed and sobbed into his shoulder. They sat there like that for what seemed like eternity before she finally got control over herself. She, regrettably, got up and put some distance between themselves. Her eyes glistening and her face glowing red from embarrassment.

She took a shaky breath and brought her eyes up to him, her face slowly becoming less red and more pink as her blush faded. "S-Sorry Naruto-kun, b-but why are you here?"

He gave her one of his signature grins and held out the box he had been carrying. "To give you this dattebayo!" She looked at the box and back at him. She could not believe what was going on.

"B-b-but wh…"

"Shhh! Just take it Hinata-chan! You gave me a present on my birthday! I have to give you one on yours! Besides, what are friends for?" He said, smiling so wide his mouth threatened to push his whiskers off his face.

Hinata took the package from him with a shaky hand as she willed herself to not faint. She daintily opened the package; it was hastily wrapped, and the folds were messy. If she were in any state other than complete shock she would have giggled, thinking about Naruto trying to figure out how to wrap a gift. She gasped as she looked inside to see the contents.

Naruto had picked the flowers he had grown using her birthday gift for him and he had put them in there along with a box of dark chocolate cookies he had gotten from the supermarket near his home.

She knew that there was probably no romantic meaning behind the gift. No, Naruto couldn't be thinking about that right now.

"I… uh… didn't really know what to get so I just gave you the same gift you have me, heh heh" He said, nervously rubbing the back of his head, "I also got you the cookies I like, I hope you like them too."

_Yes, he didn't mean it that way, it was all he could come up with._ She sighed, almost relieved and just a little bit sad. She would have loved for him to do that but at the same time she knew she would just faint and not stop fainting until she inevitably just died of a heart attack.

She immediately turned to him, cutting him off, "I love it!" She said, a little too loudly for her taste as she shrieked and covered her mouth. She had used _that _word. That was the closest she had ever gotten to telling him those three words, _I love you_. She so badly wanted to add those on but stopped herself out of pure embarrassment.

Naruto just blinked at her outburst but quickly returned to his smile. They both sat in silence, enjoying the cookies that he had bought as well as the company of each other.

* * *

**A/N: Just a quick note about the Seven Swordsmen, yes I know that Raiga took the Kiba blades from Ameyuri but in my AU I have that order flipped around. Also not all the Swordsmen died when Might Duy unleashed the Eighth Gate on them in this AU. **

**So what do you guys think? How was the Uzumaki Chistmas? This chapter was kind of split in half between the Hyūga and Uzumaki clans. I wanted to start kind of dark, showing a little of Naruto's inner turmoil at the situation. I think that, despite him being really cheery, Kishimoto didn't really hit on some of his darker qualities. However, I think that the influence of the Sandaime really pushed Naruto in a good direction, and possible saved him from despair. **

**I think that for him, being with his clansmen cured most of his anxiety, sure its not a process that happens overnight but now at least he has a support system and should be on his way to be truly happy. Currently, I have an idea of how he's going to find out about the Kyūbi but that is still in what I call the 'testing' phase.**

**Speaking of clans, the Hyūga clan. Now, I know that some fics demonize the clan and to some extent, I totally agree. But not when they include Hiashi. I think that when people look at him, they forget a lot of details about his life. Firstly, he had to kill someone to stop them from kidnapping his three year old daughter. As a result, his brother had died. Hiashi in the anime did not like this and repected his brother a lot. While we do not get a good look at the elders of the Hyūga clan, what we see of them in fanfics is enough to tell you how Hiashi's father must have treated him. Lastly, the man had to bury his own wife, right after the birth of his second daughter. **

**All things considered, this must have left a mark on him, and caused him to be obsessed with strength. I personally think that the way he treats Hinata, as wrong as it is, had good intentions behind it. Also, who killed Hinata's mom? **

**Kind of backpedaling, Hikari's friendship with Kushina. I know that only Mikoto was seen as a friend of Kushina but I think that if she was trying to become Hokage ever since she entered the Academy, she would probably try to befriend people in powerful clans, this led to me connecting her with Hikari. Also, Minato being a sealmaster also fit into the plot pretty well as he worked secretly with them. **

**But alas, it didn't work out in the end, and because Hikari was busy trying to be a mother, she didn't even get to see Naruto :((.**

**Well, hope this chapter was really good, please let me know if there's anything that I can improve, and if its shorter ANs then I will oblige, I really like to ramble here and discuss my thoughts but if you don't want to hear it, I'll understand. Until next time!**


	4. The What Clone Jutsu?

**A/N: Wow, we're almost at 100 favorites and 200 follows and 6,000 views (edit: just hit that :)). That's ridiculous. I honestly didn't think anyone would like my writing and would find it to be not entertaining at all. Thank you all for the kind and critical reviews. I really want to shout out user Zabzab for talking to me about places that I could improve. Hopefully I can work on world building a little when I go deeper into the clan structure and council matters. Sorry for delaying this chapter, I know on my profile I said that I would be getting it out yesterday but school happened and I wasn't able to finalize it. Hope you guys enjoy it and it was worth waiting for! **

**Key (For the whole fanfic):**

_Italics – _Thoughts, Flashbacks

**Bold **– Tailed Beast/Summon animals talking (i.e. Kurama, Gamabunta, etc…)

Underline – Jutsu Name

**Disclaimer: If you think I have the rights to Naruto, I must sadly inform you that no, no I do not, if I did, I would be busy making Boruto better. **

* * *

Chapter 4: The What Clone Jutsu?

* * *

Months passed by. All students had returned to the Academy, ready to face new challenges and trials. One of these being the upcoming genin exams.

Training together, Naruto and Hinata had made great progress on most of the Academy jutsu. While Naruto was better at the transformation technique, Hinata was a bit faster than him when it came to the substitution jutsu.

However, when it came to clones, Naruto just could not get it down. No matter how hard he tried. Even Hinata made sure that he was using to correct signs.

However, this little setback did not stop Naruto from having a little fun.

"U-um, Naruto-kun, I d-don't think this is a good idea.."

"It's a terrible idea! Something of this scale could get us expelled!"

"Don't worry about that! We won't get caught, that's why we have you here," Naruto smirked at Shikamaru.

"Ugh, I just know this is gonna be troublesome" Shikamaru started earning a glare from Naruto. He then smirked and added, "Fine, fine, but it'll still be troublesome," Naruto glared even harder. "for everyone who get pranked that is."

Naruto just grinned back at him and they began their planning.

"Well, we can break this down into parts," Shikamaru started, taking the role of head strategist. He looked around him, gauging the group's strengths. He knew Choji was reliable and motivated when it came to food. He would be perfect for covering them when they needed to be discreet. He was much too innocent to ever be suspected of anything, unless it was stealing food from others.

He knew Naruto had some knowledge of storage seals, everyone did, with that flashy presentation he put on. He would be responsible for sealing all the paint and glitter.

He then looked at Hinata, he knew that she was extremely shy and would probably not be of any help on a stealth assignment since there was a chance she could choke up and jeopardize the mission. He knew that she was meticulous in her work and that she had a not-so-secret crush on Naruto. Hell, everyone knew but the blond baka himself. She would be perfect for assisting Naruto in creating the seals.

He then turned to Sasame, who was a complete unknown. While she was starting to become more and more in touch with the other kunoichi and their small friend group, she was still new, and he had little knowledge of her skills. Still, she was well-composed and seemed to be the perfect fit for a covert operation alongside Shikamaru himself.

Speaking of covert ops, Shikamaru was surprised at how useful Karin could be. She had only recently started hanging out with them and had surprised them with her sensory skills. She would be very useful to have with them, as she could help them avoid any unnecessary encounters with the enemy.

He shook his head, C_overt operation? Enemies? What am I now, an ANBU commander? I knew this would be troublesome. _He still grinned while he shared his plan with them. Normally, he would avoid anything that involved effort, but planning a prank like this was actually turning out to be a lot of fun. It was like playing a game of shogi, except the pieces were his friends.

"Well, does anyone have any questions?" Shikamaru looked around, his eyes landing on Naruto and a tick mark appearing on his forehead.

The rambunctious blond was snoring loudly and had missed almost the entire plan. Shikamaru sighed and kneaded his temples, _troublesome. _

_-WHACK-_

"AHH! OW! OW! OW!" Naruto screamed, rubbing the red mark from the hand that slapped him.

"Baka, first you gather us all up for some master prank and then you fall asleep on us?" Sasame said calmly as she shook her head.

Following a sheepish grin from Naruto, and glares from everyone else, Shikamaru just sighed and went through the plan one more time. They would have to follow the plan down to the letter to make sure nothing went wrong.

* * *

Over the next two weeks, Academy faculty did not notice the stealthy shinobi-in-training dart into the school after hours, looking through lesson plans, gathering intel for their latest self-assigned mission. There was one incident where Karin was not available and Shikamaru and Sasame almost got caught. Luckily, Choji had been able to stall for time, after getting into a lengthy debate with Iruka over what the best restaurant between Ichiraku's and Yakiniku Q was.

Once they collected their intel, Shikamaru reported to Naruto and Hinata, to see how far they had gotten. Hinata, despite being so shy, had shown to be quite resourceful. She had convinced Ko to go out with her and help her buy several cans of paint and glitter, under the pretense of an art installation at the Academy. Ko raised an eyebrow but dismissed his suspicions. Hinata was never someone to get into mischief.

The fact that all this went against all of her nature was what made this so exciting. She had never in a million years dreamt of pulling a prank, much less a prank of Naruto-sized scale. She couldn't help but blush as she helped him write the storage seals. With her amazing handwriting, she copied down the simple patterns onto scrolls that were to replace the ones used in class.

She blushed at the thought that they were doing this prank on Valentines. In some roundabout way, this could be considered a date. _Could it really?__No, Naruto-kun just wants to make us happy, he probably wanted us to have some fun before we take the exams. _

She blushed again at the blonde's thoughtfulness. In the short time their friendship had lasted, Naruto had proven time and time again, that he cared more for his friends than he did for himself. Hinata even knew why. This boy grew up much like her. She cherished her friendships just as much as he did, but she was much more shy about it.

Once the two had finished with all the seals, they handed them to Shikamaru, in order to switch them with the scrolls they would use in class. After a successful infiltration, everything was set.

* * *

Jiraiya couldn't help but smile to himself. He had witnessed the whole debacle. While these kids were good at hiding from their teachers, nothing went by him.

Originally, he just wanted to check up on Naruto, to see how he was going. But, his interest piqued when he overheard their conversation. As he looked from face to face, he couldn't help but laugh. None of these kids but Naruto would even be suspects. The Nara, if he was anything like his father, was seen as much too lazy to take part in such activities. The Akimichi boy was just too nice to think of pulling a prank on anyone. Being new, the girl with the orange hair and the Uzumaki girl were probably not going to even be suspected.

What really shocked him was the Hyūga heiress taking a part in this. Normally, Hyūga had too big of a stick up their ass to even consider _associating_ with kids like these, much less befriending them. However, the more time he spent spying on his godson, the more he figured out.

It didn't leave him any less shocked, but he did smile and nod approvingly at his godson. _It isn't every day the heiress of the most powerful clan in Konoha takes an interest in you kid, nice catch._

* * *

Since today was Valentine's day, the class's first activity was to read the letters they had written for each other the previous day. When Iruka instructed them to open their notes, all the class reached for the scrolls.

Sakura, Ino and all of Sasuke's fangirls shrieked as they all got letters from Sasuke.

"Oh my god, I knew he loved me!" Ino screamed.

"He probably felt bad for sending me a letter, that's why he gave you one Ino-pig!" Sakura called back smugly.

"What did you say Forehead?!" The two girls stared each other down and turned their heads away.

Hibachi and his friends looked at their scrolls and a huge blush came on their faces.

"No way! Sakura-chan gave me a letter?" Hibachi whispered.

"Whoa dude, I got one from Ino-chan!" added Jun.

"Oh man, looks like we all got lucky, I got one from Sasame-chan!" exclaimed Kaito.

They boys talked amongst each other as they read the notes. Even Iruka got one from a 'Secret Admirer'.

As one the whole class turned the scrolls over, and per instructions, put some chakra into the seals. That was when all hell broke loose.

Sakura, Ino, Hibachi, Jun, Kaito, Iruka, and several others proceeded to get showered by paint and then subsequently covered in glitter. Those who didn't get pranked couldn't contain their laughter as the class dissolved into mayhem.

Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji and Hinata all laughed their hearts out, until their stomachs ached. Iruka, red-faced with anger, stood on his desk and screamed, "NARUTO UZUMAKI! WAS THIS YOUR DOING?!" Those who got pranked glared daggers at Naruto. He looked back and gulped down, _Man! If looks could kill!_

"Sorry Iruka-sensei! I would love to say that it was me but I'm afraid it wasn't me this time!" He looked at Iruka with a serious look.

"DON'T GIVE US THAT CRAP LOSER! WE KNOW IT WAS YOU!" Ino screamed at the top of her lungs, "YOU RUINED MY FAVORITE DRESS!"

Shikamaru brought his head up and said, "I think Naruto's right, normally when he pulls a prank, he takes all the credit for it. If he really did it, he would announce it to everyone."

Iruka considered the lazy boy's words. It was a contingency plan Shikamaru thought of, since it would logically make sense. Naruto was someone who loved to brag and rub his pranks in everyone's faces. Even if it did backfire and their sensei started questioning them, Shikamaru told everyone to deny it. Without any substantial proof, Iruka couldn't blame anyone.

Iruka looked around the class, eyeing his students, trying to find the perpetrator. Thankfully, the group had been smart enough to not be the only ones who avoided the paint. It helped to confuse their sensei. His eyes still lingered on the orange-clad boy in the back, who was doing his best to maintain a look of innocence.

Iruka was then brought out of his thoughts by the still screaming Ino, who was going on about how many hours she had spent trying on the dress, how it was the one thing she owned that she cared for. Groaning, he excused class to go and wipe themselves off.

He took one last look around the class, hoping to find any telltale signs of a guilty student, when his eyes landed on Hinata. She was curled up in her chair, trying to become as small as possible. His stare made her even more self-conscious and scared as she thought of the repercussions of getting caught. Not only would the Academy discipline her, but she would most certainly be disowned by her own father when he found out.

Naruto noticed this too, as he looked over and noticed her breathing had become erratic. She was sweating uncomfortably and was visibly shaken. He knew that if any of them were to get caught the consequences were dire.

But these were his friends! He needed to do something…

"It was me Iruka-sensei, I did all of this! I almost got you with that dattebayo!"

Hinata gasped as she looked at the blond boy. He was standing with a goofy grin plastered on his face. Hinata just looked at him in horror. _Does he know what he's doing? Why is he doing this?_ She suddenly realized, _He's doing it so I don't get in trouble!_

One by one, Naruto's friends turned to him and came to the realization that Hinata had come to.

_Why? Why is he doing this for us? _It didn't make any sense to Shikamaru, he racked his brain to try and come up with an answer.

"it's because he cares about us."

"Huh?" Shikamaru turned to Choji, who had just whispered his thoughts out loud.

Immediately, Choji stood up too.

"I helped him Iruka-sensei, he didn't do it alone."

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru grumbled to himself as he took a stand next to his longtime friend. He cast a look to all the female members of the prank. The message was clear, _we'll take the hit._

"Me too Iruka-sensei, I helped them both."

To say Naruto was shocked was an understatement. Here he was trying to stand up and protect his friends, but they stood with him too. He felt a pleasant warmness in his heart from their display. But he wanted to protect them, he needed to tell them to stand down…

Iruka just blinked, trying to set his mind straight, _uh… what? He had help with this? I mean, I'm happy he's making friends and all, but this needs to be punished, it would be a bad example for the other kids!_ He wiped the shocked look of his face and set his mouth into a frown.

"All right then, the three of you will meet me outside for a little talk." He motioned to the hallway and the boys followed, Naruto turning around just before leaving the class and shooting Hinata a wink before disappearing.

Hinata, Sasame, and Karin just sat there with their mouths hanging open, both literally and figuratively. Hinata blushed furiously when Naruto sent a wink towards her and it wasn't helping her concentration one bit.

_He really would give up so much just for his friends, he truly is strong. _Hinata thought to herself as her crush was surely getting the lecture of a lifetime.

* * *

"So… care to explain yourselves?"

Iruka stood in front of the group of three, who were shuffling nervously with their feet. Naruto and Shikamaru mostly did it out of boredom whereas Choji was a bit afraid of the consequences. The amount of damage they caused would certainly cost a lot. It wasn't though as if money was a problem for him, his clan was well-off and being the heir to the clan, he had access to a lot of money.

It was his parent's reaction that scared him. They would never lash out at him, but he dreaded the disappointed looks that they would give him. Plus there was probably going to be a limit on his snack spending for the month.

"Well…" Naruto started, getting their attention, "I… uh… wanted to do something special for the whole class on Valentines…" Iruka and Shikamaru rolled their eyes.

"Well, I did it mostly since I wanted to leave my mark on my classmates, we are going to be genin in a few months and I probably won't ever see some of these people again so I wanted to make sure they remembered me!" Naruto ended with a smile.

Iruka just facepalmed, "Well, you certainly did that, but there are other ways to leave your mark here Naruto." He shook his head, "But why did you drag Choji and Shikamaru into this?"

Before Naruto could answer, Shikamaru spoke up. He knew that once Naruto got started, he would tell the whole story, and would accidently get the girls in trouble. He didn't know about Sasame and Karin, but he knew very well that Hinata would get severely punished, since she was an heiress to a clan.

"Well, to be honest sensei, Naruto came to me and Choji about this and we felt that he would be hopeless without us so we wanted to help, but we certainly do regret our actions, the three of us do, and we are willing pay the price for it." He finished with a slight bow.

Iruka looked at his three students and tried his best to hide his inner smile. These boys' conviction to suffer as one was laudable, if a bit misdirected. However, it showed to him that they were at heart good kids and would grow up to be great ninja.

He crossed his arms as the boys readied themselves for their punishment.

"Well, in that case… I hope you guys have money saved up and paid attention during Personal Accounting."

The boys looked at the sadistic grin that was on their teacher's face and gulped.

* * *

Later that day, three young boys trudged home from the shopping district. Wallets and souls empty. Choji was crying softly as they passed a convenience store. He was about to ask Shikamaru for money to buy some chips but immediately remembered where it all went. His stomach growled at him, probably out of anger.

Shikamaru didn't really mind the loss of money. As a child, he didn't really have anything to spend money on. No, he was so physically drained from all the walking that they had to do as well as mentally drained from having to listen to Ino's incessant babbling about designer brands and color palettes. _Next time we go to Ino's house for dinner I am definitely faking my death._

Naruto whimpered as he clutched a now empty Gama-chan to his chest. Like Shikamaru he wasn't really sad about the loss of money. Naruto had plenty of cash leftover from jiji's allowances over the years. It was all stashed in one of his floorboards. He was mainly clutching his precious frog wallet for the little bit of comfort it provided him. _I don't know what it is about Sakura-chan, but damn can she be scary! How the hell does she have glowing yellow eyes? _

"Hey, I'm… gonna go and watch some clouds, maybe take my mind off this. If I don't, I think I'm going to die of exhaustion. You guys wanna join me?" Shikamaru said to his two friends.

Choji just nodded silently and said something unintelligible about Yoshino-san's cooking. Naruto just shook his head.

"I asked Hinata-chan to help me with the clone jutsu after class, I ended up pushing it until after our punishment, I'll see you guys tomorrow." He gave the two a half-hearted wave and set off to the training ground.

* * *

"I hope everything is okay, Ino-san did seem really angry."

Hinata had arrived at Training Ground 3 just about twenty minutes ago. Naruto had approached her after his lecture from Iruka-sensei and told her to meet him there just after six o'clock. It was nearing thirty minutes until she noticed the mop of blonde hair peeking through the woods.

"Hey Hinata-chan! Sorry I'm late!"

Hinata's heart quickened at the sight of his grin. _How can I ever hope to get closer to him if all it takes to put me on edge is a smile?_ Hinata thought as Naruto made his way to her.

He looked extremely tired, a rarity for him, and he was clutching onto a frog wallet the same way a child would grab a stuffed toy. Hinata blushed, remembering the name he had affectionately given the children's wallet. _I didn't know it would mean so much to him._

"N-Naruto-kun.."

He tilted his head at her voice. Hinata's mind was racing along with her heart, but she had gotten better over the past few months. Thankfully she wouldn't faint anymore, but she would still stutter around the orange-loving boy.

"N-Naruto-kun, w-why did you willingly take the p-punishment for us?"

His eyes seemed to linger on hers for just a moment. It made her heart stop for just that moment. His eyes were so beautiful in their sadness. The pain etched into them made her love him so much more, made her want to give him something to be happy about.

His mouth broke into a grin, "Well, I have to protect my friends, dattebayo!" He continued grinning at Hinata, "I especially can't let down my first and best friend!"

_First… and BEST? _Hinata felt a little woozy, blushing a deep crimson. She wanted so badly to tell him that she wanted to be more than just friends but it seemed that it was more likely that the Shodaime and Nidaime would rise from the dead to attack Konoha than it was for her confessing to him. Her throat choked up as she attempted to get words out but Naruto took care of that for her.

"Well, time to practice that damn clone jutsu!"

* * *

It had been just over an hour and progress was… well… not great.

"Clone Jutsu!"

A poof of smoke and three copies of Hinata appeared in front of him.

"Now you try, N-Naruto-kun, This time I'll watch with m-my Byakugan and see if I can figure out your p-problem" Hinata had shown him the signs and explained how to do it, all that he had to do now was actually put it into practice.

"Wow, that's not a bad idea! No wonder you are one of the smartest in the class!" Hinata blushed from the praise and fidgeted with her fingers. Naruto just looked at her strangely. _Did I say something wrong?_ Before he could think again, Hinata looked up expectantly, veins bulging with the activation of her dōjutsu. Naruto just shook his head to clear his mind, hopefully it wasn't something too serious.

"All right, here it goes," Naruto made the necessary hand signs, "Clone Jutsu!" A poof of smoke appeared and they both looked on in hope.

When it cleared, another pale clone floated to the ground and immediately dispelled.

"Dammit! At this rate I'll never graduate!" Naruto was infuriated, he had completely mastered the transformation and substitution jutsu to the point where he could do them without hand signs. Most of the class didn't even have that level of mastery. Probably because the rest of the class didn't practice anywhere near the number of hours he had. Despite this, the clone technique was still giving him trouble.

When he was making his clone, Hinata couldn't help but let out a gasp. Firstly, his reserves were so extremely massive, that looking at his main chakra coil was blinding. When they had sparred earlier, she was too focused on the pathways in his arms and legs to take a close look.

The pool of chakra that he had access to was seemingly endless. It was like looking into the ocean. The second thing she noticed was that his clones were getting way too much chakra. It was almost ten times the amount necessary for the jutsu. What shocked her even more was the fact that he had already attempted this about twenty times today. Hinata could just barely make five clones before feeling light-headed and here, Naruto was past two-hundred and wasn't even breaking a sweat.

"U-um… y-you are p-putting an enormous amount of c-chakra into the clone; it is way too much for just a s-superficial clone like that. You need to put a lot less."

He closed his eyes and concentrated again, trying his very hardest to limit the amount of chakra. And still, the clone was barely passable. Hinata just shook her head, "Even less than that Naruto-kun."

"But I barely gave any that time Hinata-chan! I don't think I'll ever graduate!" He shouted.

Hinata thought, they had been working on this jutsu for a few weeks now, their graduation exam was in two weeks, she thought about who could help them. "I know, I'll ask Iruka-sensei for help. He should know how to solve this." She said to him as they got up from the training ground and began to walk to where Naruto knew they would find Iruka.

Arriving at Ichiraku ramen, Naruto saw their teacher and sprinted up to him.

_You know, Ayame-chan is kind of pretty, maybe I should…_ Iruka's thoughts were rudely interrupted as his favorite student grabbed his arm.

"IRUKA-SENSEI I NEED YOUR HELP ITS AN EMERGENCY!" Naruto yelled as he jumped up and down. Waving his hands.

Teuchi grumbled something about Naruto scaring away customers as Iruka turned all of his attention to Naruto.

"What is it Naruto? Is someone in trouble?" His worry began rising as he thought of what could be happening.

"Yes someone's in trouble!" Naruto pointed his thumb to himself, "I am! I still can't do the clone jutsu and I need your help."

Iruka was still worried but now at a different scale. Thankful that one of his other students wasn't in danger of getting hurt, he motioned for Naruto to sit down, Hinata then arrived, panting as she was trying to keep up with him. Iruka invited her to sit too and they began to discuss.

Hinata told Iruka what she had seen with the Byakugan and Naruto described his efforts. Iruka sat and wondered as he looked at his students eat the ramen, he got for them. _Hmm, too much chakra… Could be a result of the Kyūbi. I'll ask Sandaime-sama what I can do. _"Well, don't worry Naruto, I'll figure something out." He said as he got up to go to the Hokage tower.

* * *

"I see, so it seems he will never be a ninja." Hiruzen said, smoking on his pipe.

Iruka nervously rolled on his heels, he really wanted to help Naruto, but it seemed like there was nothing that he could do.

"Is there anything we could do for him? I know how much being a ninja means to him, and I want him to succeed, but I can't just pass him if he doesn't know the clone jutsu."

Hiruzen took a long drag and puffed out a cloud of smoke, enveloping the room with the sickly smell of tobacco. He internally smirked when it clicked to him.

"Don't worry Iruka, I have just the person for the job, I will take care of it."

Iruka bowed deeply, "Thank you Hokage-sama." He left the room quickly, hoping to catch the blond and let him know that there would be a solution.

A shadow moved out of the corner of the room and a small toad made its way into the light. It's mouth unhinged and a white-haired man clad in a red jacket crawled out.

"I assume that you'll have no problem if I take him under my wing for this issue?"

Hiruzen smiled, "By all means Jiraiya, go ahead, he is your godson after all."

The toad sage smirked but then dropped it immediately. "You still haven't told him yet have you?"

"Told him what? His parentage or his tenant?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.

"The latter."

Looking out of the window, Hiruzen pondered his options. He had made it a law to not discuss the boy's jinchuriki status to protect him from his peers. Yet it seemed that those youth just picked up their parents' anger, despite not knowing the true reason. He was torn when it came to young Naruto, he didn't want to make the boy's life more miserable by telling him that he was the container for the very beast that ransacked the village, but he knew that it would be better if Naruto was aware of it.

"I had planned on telling him when he became a genin. I want to tell him myself, so that he understands that he is not a monster and is indeed a hero. If the village doesn't treat him like one, I at least want him to know that I see him as one."

Jiraiya nodded, the idea made sense, he knew how delicate the mind of a jinchuriki was. One of his sources in Suna had informed that he had witnessed the rampages of Shukaku's new host, and boy the stories weren't pretty.

If Naruto took the news wrong, without anyone to believe in him and show him that he was a hero, Konoha was doomed.

"Well, there's still some light in the day, what say I go pay him a visit?"

"Dismissed"

Jiraiya winked and dove out the open window, leaving Hiruzen chuckling as the sound of his wooden getta faded away.

* * *

Naruto jerked up from a cup of ramen when he heard banging on his door. He instinctively grabbed a kunai and unlocked his back door in case he needed to make a run for it. Even if he'd made friends, he still wasn't sure who this person was.

He slowly crept up to the door and took a peek through the peephole. On the other side was a man with a massive head of white hair. His face had red markings by his eyes and his forehead protector, it wasn't a Konoha one?

_So he's not from here? Why does he want to see me?_ "Who is it? What do you want from me?" He called out tentatively.

"I'm looking for a Naruto Uzumaki, I need to talk to him." An even voice called back.

Naruto gulped, that didn't clear anything up. "What do you need to talk about?"

"What I need to talk about is the fact that you can't clone yourself." A voice said, now from behind him.

Naruto jumped and let out a rather scared yelp as the man suddenly appeared behind him, inside his own home.

"B-Back off! Don't hurt me please!" He yelped as he scrambled back.

Jiraiya's anger flared, _This damn village, they're the ones who made him like this. Oh Minato I'm sorry but you might have to come back to life to stop me from killing every one of their sorry asses. _He took a breath through clenched teeth and relaxed. "Don't worry kid, I just heard from a little birdie that you can't make clones. I'm here to help with that."

Naruto stopped retreating and raised an eyebrow. This man was definitely one of the strangest shinobi he had ever seen. He didn't seem to carry any weapons on him and had a massive scroll strapped to his back. "Um, sorry but who are you?"

Jiraiya gave Naruto a smirk, he jumped and landed in a flashy taijutsu stance, balancing on one leg and putting his arms out to make him look imposing. "I am the Great Mountain Toad Sage! One of the legendary Sannin of Konoha! My name brings fear into the hearts of men and lust in the hearts of women! I am the one and only Jiraiya!"

"Um… ok."

Jiraiya momentarily lost balance and faceplanted on Naruto's floor. He got up with a tick mark on his forehead. "KID DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM? MOST SHINOBI WOULD KILL TO BE TRAINED BY ME! UNGRATEFUL BRAT!"

Naruto's eyes widened, "Wait! Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to insult but that whole title thing was kind of confusing." He then grinned sheepishly, "Also your stance was so ridiculous that it was kinda distracting dattebayo"

Jiraiya smiled when he heard the verbal tic, _He definitely is her son. _A vision of a laughing redhead filled his mind.

"Anyways, I'll help you with your issue, meet me tomorrow at the hot springs and we'll get started."

With that Jiraiya disappeared in a swirl of leaves and twigs. Naruto blinked once, trying to figure out what the hell just happened in the last five minutes before realized the mess the man made.

"Baka-sennin… making me clean up his trash."

* * *

Naruto was walking towards the hot springs to meet Jiraiya, whom he passionately dubbed 'baka-sensei'. Little did he know, this nickname would not last long.

He was walking around the hot springs, trying to find the now elusive shinobi. For someone who was so passionate about theatrics, he was damn near impossible to find. He gave up looking for him and decided to ask around.

Henged as some random peasant boy, he walked up to the nearest person he could find. A kindly looking woman with shaggy hair and red eyes.

"Excuse me, but have you seen an old guy around here with really long and shaggy white hair?"

The woman tilted her head in thought. "Old man, long white hair, sorry, that's a really vague description. Do you have anything specific about him?"

"Umm… well his forehead protector had the kanji for oil written on it – huh?"

Naruto faltered as he felt killing intent. It wasn't directed at him but it still felt deadly.

"So… he _is _here. No wonder I sensed such a high chakra." She then turned to the now shivering boy, who looked completely different than he did before. Gone were the basic brown robes and black hair. The boy was now wearing a bright orange tracksuit and a shock of bright blond hair.

Naruto had lost all concentration on his jutsu as soon as he felt the killing intent. He didn't realize it was dropped and looked down at his clothes and the shocked look on the woman's face. He pieced it together and gulped, hoping it wouldn't be too bad for him.

She noticed the change in mood immediately and sighed, she really felt bad for the kid. Having to put up with constant abuse was wrong, and for what, being the seal that kept a demon back? It was stupid, uncalled for.

She pretended not to notice and pointed behind the bathhouse, "He is probably somewhere behind the building, thanks for the warning, I think I'll go to a different bathhouse." She turned and walked away.

Naruto shook his head and looked at the lady leaving, she had actually… been kind to him? She didn't chase him away like all the other villagers. Maybe… some people accepted him?

He shook his head again, no, he promised himself he would become a genin first then think about _that_ issue later. Right now, he needed to worry about passing his exam. Which means…

He heard what sounded like a grown man… giggling? He walked slowly around the corner to find none other than Jiraiya himself. Now, finding the man here wasn't really all that surprising, since he had asked Naruto to come here, it was the fact that he had a nosebleed and was peeking into the all-women's open bath.

"Hey! Stop being a perv baka-sennin! Or should I say, ero-sennin!" Naruto yelled out, pointing an accusatory finger at Jiraiya.

He heard several women scream and rush out of the bathhouse, just now realizing that they weren't the only ones relaxing in the warm water. Jiraiya was a different story.

He whirled around and angrily clamped Naruto's mouth shut, not like it did any good. He hissed at the boy, "You idiot! I was doing research and if you don't let me I won't ever finish my next novel!"

Naruto tilted his head in question, still strangling a bit in Jiraiya's grasp, "Novel?"

"Yes I write novels! I am the author of the world-famous Icha Icha series!" He said, holding up an orange book. Naruto just looked on in awe. The book looked kind of familiar. _Oh yeah, it was that white-haired ANBU guy that guarded me for a while when I was a kid._ The memory clicked into place.

"Well, you can't do research until you help me out, ero-sennin. I need to know how to do the clone jutsu and I need to know fast!"

Jiraiya sighed sadly as the boy dragged him away from the hot springs and into a clearing in the forest nearby. He let go of the boy's hand and faced him.

_He looks so much like Minato, I mean, I know kids take after their parents but his resemblance is just uncanny. He has the same hair and his eyes, _he looked at the bright blue orbs, _they have the same determination that Minato had. _

He closed his eyes and smiled, "Well, can you try the clone jutsu in front of me one time?" Naruto just shrugged and attempted the jutsu.

The result was the same. A pale clone floating slowly to the ground like a balloon that lost helium.

_Just as Iruka said, he seems to be putting too much chakra into them. Honestly this clone jutsu is weak, maybe I could…_

"Well kid, it seems that jutsu will never work for you."

Naruto was crestfallen, he would never be a ninja? "No! There has to be a way! I have to pass! I need to become a shinobi!"

"Relax brat, I said that specific technique wouldn't work for you, I didn't say anything about any _other _clone techniques." Naruto immediately perked up, ready for whatever it was that the Toad Sage asked of him.

"What I am going to teach you is technically a forbidden jutsu, so don't just go teaching it to anybody. It is a prized jutsu created by the Nidaime himself."

"Oh come on! What is it? What is it?" Naruto asked excitedly only to get smacked on the head and unceremoniously fall to the ground again.

"Calm down brat! Let me speak!" Jiraiya straightened his haori, "It's called the Shadow Clone Jutsu, let me show you." Jiraiya made a handsign and a clone _poofed_ into existence. "No go up to the clone and punch it in the gut.

Naruto walked over to the clone that was just created and hit it with a punch, to surprisingly find… the clone was solid! Jiraiya noted Naruto's shocked face and nodded.

"As you can see this jutsu creates solid clones, and they can even use the same ninjutsu that you can. Now, this comes at a pretty high chakra cost which is why the jutsu is forbidden. If you create too many clones, you could die of chakra exhaustion since your chakra would be spread so thin. Now I'm going to teach you so listen closely..."

* * *

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A clone appeared for a split second and exploded in a cloud of smoke, leaving Naruto winded. He was exhausted but excited too. He had seen it for just that moment. He had almost done it!

"Great work, let's take a break and then you can get back to it." Jiraiya said, already striding back towards the hot springs.

"Hold on wait! I almost have it! Just a little more!" Jiraiya looked back at the panting boy. His face was dirty and sweat was pouring off his head. He saw for a second a ghostly image of Minato, overlaid on his son's.

"Kid I don't think that you'll get it right awa-"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Jiraiya could do nothing but let his jaw drop when a perfect clone looked incredulously at the two.

"YEAH WE DID IT WE'RE GONNA PASS! WE'RE GONNA BE SHINOBI!"

Jiraiya just smirked and looked at the boy. Maybe he could use this time and teach him a bit more than just the clone jutsu. Besides, he'd figured out that the kid already had a knack for seals. Why not start teaching him some seals now? Especially with the clones, he could get much more done.

"Well Naruto that's amazing! I say, we take a little break to celebrate now and then we can work on getting you to make more clones and then, maybe a little fūinjutsu?"

Naruto perked up and was about to ask to start right now but his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell face-first into the soft grass below, snoring loudly. Jiraiya just chuckled and lay next to him with his back to a tree. Maybe he couldn't get any peeking done but Naruto definitely made up for it.

* * *

Naruto woke up to the blazing heat of the summer sun. He looked over to find Jiraiya writing down something into a little notebook. The Sannin noticed him awake and got up to stretch out.

"Well kid, let's get to work on creating more clones. It seems like you got the hang of making one, but now I want to see you make three."

Naruto mimicked him a stretched out from his nap, cracking the bones in his back and neck. He finally got comfortable and made the cross sign with his hands. He knew by feel about how much chakra was needed for one clone. _So to make three I need… a lot more!_

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Jiraiya was bombarded by the scent of smoke and shocked by the number of clones.

"Um… Naruto, I said to make three, not ten."

Naruto looked side to side guiltily and put his hand behind his head, all the clones copied him, making it quite the eerie sight.

"Oh… uh… sorry about that ero-sennin, I just kind of gave it a bit too much that's all"

Jiraiya's forehead was marked by a red tick as his veins bulged, "First of all, don't call me that and second of all, this number of clones is fine for what we are going to do."

He took out a big stack of paper and eight sets of brushes and ink. He laid out the paper and brushes in a circle and then pulled out a thick book from his bag. The cover read 'Fūinjutsu Level I: Beginner Seals'.

"So Naruto, I already heard from Sarutobi-sensei that you have a knack for fūinjutsu. So I thought why not learn it from one of the best sealmasters Konoha had ever produced!" He proudly grinned at the blonde who was now looking at him in awe.

"Wait, jiji was your sensei?" He asked incredulously.

Jiraiya's face softened, painful memories resurfacing, "Yeah, he was, but we aren't here to talk about that, what we're here to do, is to get you to fully master that book within the week."

Naruto's eyes bulged when he looked at the size of the book. "WAIT! THAT THING? IT'S HUGE!"

_That's what she said_. Jiraiya thought lecherously as he shook his head. "Well, that's the beauty of studying with shadow clones. Every time a clone dispels, you will get any information that it learned back. Although it also comes with the exhaustion they feel too. It's a great way to study topics or practice kata for taijutsu." Naruto was about to speak when Jiraiya cut him off, "And no, it is not a substitute for strength training."

"Now let's get started with this, I want two of your clones and the original reading the book and then I want the rest practicing writing the seals. Now, it is important that I stress that you learn to copy the seals exactly correct and learn to do it quickly."

Naruto nodded, absorbing the information that Jiraiya threw at him. _He really is the perfect student, why are his grades so bad?_"It is imperative that you learn to write quickly and accurately because in combat you won't have all day to write seals, and until you learn marking, you will have to write the seals."

He paused and looked around at the clones, "Any questions?" Silence, "Good, then let's get to work!"

"YES SIR!" The clones shouted in unison, and with a mock salute, they strode to their stations.

* * *

"Is this right?"

Naruto held up a recently completed seal for Jiraiya to inspect. The man had left him a shadow clone in case he had any questions. When Naruto had asked where he was going, all he said was 'research'.

The clone examined the seal, looking for the slightest imperfection. While these exploding tags were relatively simple to make, a small deviation from the formula would result in either a small cloud of smoke, or an explosion that would kill the user.

"Do it again." He said as he tore the seal up.

Naruto slumped his shoulders. He didn't have the best penmanship and was lucky that the storage seal didn't have too many bad repercussions if messed up. In the few days that he had been studying he had learned the basics of making seals. The book outlined several proven structures that made up most of the seals used today. Everything from storage arrays to elemental chakra capacitors.

At first, the technical babble in the book made no sense and he had asked Jiraiya for help explaining some of the basic physics principles of fūinjutsu. Over time, the technicalities clicked into his head and he slowly began to understand what the hell the damn book was saying.

He had gotten far enough to even decipher some of the more advanced sealing diagrams in the book. The only thing that was holding him back now was his handwriting. This was the fourth seal he had attempted today. After blindingly racing through the first attempt, he had slowed down significantly when Jiraiya had told him that seal would have blown off half his body if he had tried to activate it.

This time, he was so sure that he had gotten it right. He looked closely at the exploding tag that Jiraiya made and wondered what he was doing wrong. He looked so closely and intensely that his eyes started to water. Until he saw it.

It was barely noticeable. To anyone else, it would be unnoticeable, but for someone who studied fūinjutsu, it would stand out. At the center of the main sealing loop, there was a single branch of kanji leading to a square structure, in which there was a small coil.

"Ahh.. so that's where the fuse is." He nodded in understanding. He turned to his other clones.

"Hey guys! I figured out what we're doing wrong!"

The clones all turned to him at the ready and Jiraiya's clone just facepalmed.

"Hey kid, just make a new clone and dispel it. See what happens."

Naruto frowned and did as he instructed. A new clone was made, and Naruto dispelled it with a punch to the gut as soon as he created it. While he could dispel all his clones at once, he still had trouble with only dispelling specific clones.

As one, the remaining clones' eyes widened, and they went to work without question. About a minute later, Naruto held a new exploding tag. Jiraiya inspected it and smiled.

"Good work kid, now, lets set this off and see how it works. He tied it to a kunai and handed the blade to Naruto.

"Go ahead and throw it at that tree over there" The Sannin pointed to a tree that was probably about a hundred yards away.

"Um… are you sure? That looks kind of far away." Naruto said nervously.

"Well it's for a good reason, because that seal," Jiraiya pointed to the seal, then to Naruto, "Was made by you, and therefore, it will be a little different from the seals that are mass produced by Konoha. So we don't really know how big the explosion will be, so to play it safe, let's keep our distance."

The boy nodded and chucked the kunai as hard as he could. When it sunk into the wood with a satisfying sound the boy made a handsign, "Activate!"

For a few seconds, nothing happened as the seal burned its fuse. Then, suddenly, a massive fireball rolled up and into the sky. The two could feel the heat even from where they were standing and looked on in shock as a good part of the surrounding trees were reduced to ash.

Naruto smiled widely and laughed manically. Jiraiya's clone looked back and forth from the impending forest fire and his arsonist student. "You know… maybe you put a little too much chakra into that one. Let's move on from explosions to barriers instead, seeing as you have a fire to contain now"

* * *

The whole class was fidgeting in their seats, well, all of them except one. Naruto Uzumaki was proudly sitting in his chair, hands behind his back. Thanks to Hinata's help over the winter break, he had studied harder and eventually surpassed Kiba, giving the Inuzuka the position of bottom of the class. Naruto was more than happy to hear this news, however, Kiba took it with unsettling shock. _The baka passed me!_ He slumped lower in his chair.

Naruto noticed this and walked over and sat next to Kiba, "Hey, um sorry about, giving you my title. I uh… hope you aren't too mad about it." He rubbed the back of his head.

Kiba just scoffed and turned away, "Don't be sorry, you studied and worked your ass off for this, you should rub it in my face." He said bitterly.

Naruto blinked and turned to face Kiba, "Hey, I'm not a jerk! I would never do that!" He shouted, getting angry. His gaze then softened as he gave Kiba a smile, "I just wanted to say good luck on the exams!" He got up and left, leaving Kiba in shock. _He… wished me well? Doesn't he still not know the clone jutsu?_ Kiba wondered and shook his head. _What a weird kid…_ He thought with a small smile.

* * *

After Naruto returned to his seat names were staring to get called. He sat there, waiting and talking with his friends, he knew he was close to the end since they were going in alphabetical order, but that meant that Choji was going early.

"Shino Aburame, testing room B, Choji Akimichi, testing room A"

Choji sweated nervously as he got up out of his seat, he was stopped by glances from his friends.

"Good luck Choji-kun" Hinata said with a small smile.

"Meet me after you pass" Shikamaru said with a smirk.

Naruto beamed widely, "Choji, if I was able to not end up in last, you'll definitely pass this dattebayo!" He gave Choji a high five.

_I am glad I made friends, Ma and Pa._ Choji thought as tears threatened to come out of his eyes. He then left and walked to his testing room.

"So nii-san, did Iruka sensei help you out with the clone jutsu," Karin asked, worried expression on her face. Everyone else turned to face the smirking blonde.

"Don't worry about it, I'll definitely pass, that's all I'm going to say." He chuckled to himself, already envisioning his plan for the exam.

Sasame looked at him quizzically, "I noticed that you weren't here in class for the last week, what happened?"

Hinata nodded too. She had been scared out of her mind that Naruto might have dropped out of the Academy upon learning that he could never be a ninja. Seeing him arrive in class today made her so incredibly happy and relieved.

"Well… I was uh… training with someone." He said sheepishly.

"Who's the special person?" Sasame asked tauntingly, looking right at Hinata who immediately blushed a deep red.

Naruto just shrugged, "He said his name was Jiraiya the Toad Sage or something like that, I don't really care, he's ero-sennin to me!"

Everyone's jaws dropped to the floor, "EHHHH?!"

Shikamaru was the first to speak, "So you're telling me that _the _Jiraiya… one of the Konoha's greatest shinobi, trained you?"

Naruto rubbed his head nervously, "Umm, yeah… I don't really see why he's so special."

"Well what did he teach you? It's said that he was one of the most powerful fūinjutsu users produced by this village, but I don't know how that would help with the clone jutsu." Sasame asked, picking her lower jaw off the floor.

Naruto just grinned, "Well, that's because he taught me the Shadow Clone Jutsu" He immediately widened his eyes and clamped his hand on his mouth. Jiraiya had told him to try not to tell his fellow classmates, since he didn't want Naruto teaching them the jutsu too.

Hinata's eyes widened considerably, "W-What? T-That jutsu is forbidden N-Naruto-kun! Why did he teach it to you?"

Rubbing his head he replied, "Well, I uh… guess I have enough chakra to do it, so he decided that I could learn it."

As time went on, the group made some small talk, nobody was really surprised when Naruto said that he was learning fūinjutsu, it was a given considering his pranking history and the increasing usage of storage seals in it.

"Sasame Fūma, testing room A. Hinata Hyūga, testing room B."

Hinata and Sasame got up to leave. Naruto wished Sasame luck and gave a wink to Hinata, making her even more nervous than before. Shikamaru was taking a nap and didn't want to be woken until his name was called.

Soon, Naruto was just with Karin. The only ones other than them left were Sasuke and Ino. Ino was fawning over Sasuke, enjoying the alone time she was getting away from the other girls, while Sasuke just stared out the window, completely ignoring her. Karin looked longingly at Sasuke and then back at Naruto, who realized what she was probably thinking. He just smiled and shook his head, "Nee-chan, believe me when I say this but Sasuke-teme isn't worth it."

Karin was about to protest but Naruto stopped her, "You see Ino? She's been after him for as long as I can remember. He even outright rejected her a few years ago. And the way he treats other girls shows that he has no interest in them. Tell me," He paused and looked Karin in the eye, "Has he ever listened to anything you say?"

Karin thought for a minute. Her cousin was being annoyingly observant. He knew what to say. His argument was pretty compelling. No, it couldn't really be true, could it? Yes the boy was quiet but that just made him more appealing. He was so much cuter and bearable compared to the rest of the class.

Before she could respond, an instructor came in and called out, "Sasuke Uchiha, testing room A. Naruto Uzumaki, testing room B. Ino Yamanaka, wait outside testing room B and Karin Uzumaki, wait outside testing room A."

The four of them got up and went to their respective rooms, before parting Naruto called out to Sasuke, "Hey teme, you better pass! I wanna kick your butt when we're genin!"

"Hn… In your dreams dobe" Sasuke replied as he walked into his room.

"Shut up Naruto, just because you're not dead-last anymore doesn't mean you stand a chance against Sasuke-kun." Ino said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Naruto just smirked and shook his head, "For someone whose clan specializes in using their brains, you sure don't seem to use yours that often." He said as he ran off. Leaving a sputtering Ino and a barely grinning Sasuke. _Hn… not bad dobe._

* * *

Naruto walked into the testing room and was presented with a few teachers and the Sandaime.

He waved cheerily, "Hey Iruka-sensei! Old Man Third! How's it going?"

The rest of the Academy teachers looked on in disgust at Naruto, Iruka and Hiruzen just chuckled and gave Naruto a warm smile. "Everything is well Naruto, I just so happened to stop by during your exams, I just wanted to see how you did" Hiruzen said to him. _And also make sure you are being treated fairly. _He thought looking at the teachers next to him.

The test began when Iruka told Naruto to transform.

"Oh I can do better than transform Iruka sensei, I'll do all three jutsu's at the same time!"

Naruto made a handsign and called out, "Harem Jutsu!"

Immediately twenty clones _poofed_ into existence. Iruka, Hiruzen, and the other Academy teachers looked on, Nosebleeds running ever so slightly.

Surrounding them were twenty naked female versions of Naruto. All of them were barely covered by the clouds surrounding them. One of the Academy instructors fainted as the others looked on.

* * *

Somewhere in the village, Jiraiya sneezed and perked up from his research. _My pervert senses are tingling. Something is going on and I'm not around to witness it! _Unfortunately for him, his presence became known at the new women's bathhouse he went to, since the one he met Naruto at had gone strangely quiet.

"Dammit! Well, the fun is finding where they all run off to?" He grinned to himself lecherously.

* * *

"Oh you like that. Well, I'm not done just yet!" A naked female said as she, and the other clones shouted, "Substitution Jutsu!" and without a handsign they were all replaced with the stack of logs that were in the back corner of the room. Naruto then released the jutsu and substituted back in front of them, grinning ear to ear.

"Well? How was it?" He said, putting his hands behind his head, "Aren't I awesome?"

The other Academy instructors sputtered in disbelief, the Sandaime just wiped his nose with a tissue and looked at Iruka and nodded.

"Naruto Uzumaki, it is with great honor that I give you this headband," Iruka reached up to his forehead and gave Naruto his very own headband. The other Academy instructors were shocked, especially Mizuki, _No! He passed! How? This can't be happening! He wasn't supposed to pass! This ruins everything!_ He looked at Iruka, "What are you doing Iruka? You don't have to give up yours, we have other headbands here" he said, pointing to the headbands that were lined up on the tables.

Iruka just chuckled as he handed Naruto his headband, "Naruto, long ago you asked me to let you try on my headband. Today, I am more than honored to not only grant that wish but give you this forever.. However, I do have one request." He paused as Naruto looked at him in awe. "DON'T EVER USE THAT JUTSU AGAIN!"

Naruto just laughed and ran out of the Academy, he laughed at their faces when he showed them his signature move. He laughed at the shocked reactions of the other instructors, when they couldn't believe he passed. He laughed at the fact that the old man himself was a pervert. _I'm definitely gonna tell Kazane-oba and nee-chan about this! And they didn't believe me!_

Most of all, he laughed because he had finally done it. He proved everyone wrong. He passed when they all said he would fail.

His group of friends all waited outside for him, even Kiba was among them. He wanted to know if Naruto actually passed or not, he had overheard that Naruto had actually trained pretty hard and had a good chance at passing the exam.

Their answer came seconds later when they heard his laughter. Hinata's heart beat faster and faster as she saw him burst out the door, holding his goggles, and a new forehead protector glinting on his face.

Everyone's jaws dropped at the sight. They quickly recovered as they commended him for his achievement. Kiba still just stood there, mouth agape, until Akamaru gave him a reprimanding bark.

"OK! OK! I'll give him my congrats too, sheesh!" He grumbled to his canine companion.

He walked up to Naruto and the blond turned to him, massive smile still on his face. "You know, I was thinking about wishing you luck too, but looks like you didn't need it. Congrats man!" Naruto just smiled and pulled Kiba in for a hug.

The dog boy gruffly pushed him off, giving him a growl and Naruto just rolled his eyes and laughed. He then turned to Karin, "Well, nee-chan do I have news for you!"

"You can tell her while we walk Naruto! I wanna go grab some food!" Choji said, pointing to the exit.

They all walked off into town, heading to the BBQ restaurant, courtesy of Choza Akimichi. Naruto was telling all his friends about his test and how he had pranked all of the teachers and still managed to get Iruka-sensei's very own headband.

A small part in the back of his head was screaming at him, reminding him of his promise to himself. It screamed that he was still confused about what it meant to be a ninja of Konoha, and what he felt about the voice inside his head. But it all sounded like a whisper to him now. He was just too happy to care.

* * *

Omake

* * *

[The seven friends arrive at the BBQ restaurant and take their seats in the reserved booth]

Naruto [determined]: Hey guys! Let's have an eating contest to celebrate graduation!

[He holds chopsticks up in challenge]

Choji: Count me in! I'll win!

Shikamaru [rolls eyes]: Yeah, no thanks, I'm not in the mood for indigestion.

Kiba [smirking]: Oh I need to get back at you for passing me in grades. Of course I'm in!

Hinata [shy]: I-I g-guess I'll join too.

Sasame: Uh yeah, no thanks, I came here to enjoy the food, not scarf it all down.

Karin[determined]: I won't lose to you this time nii-san! I'm in!

[They order food and Naruto, Karin, Kiba, and Choji attack it. Hinata patiently cooks her meat and eats it slowly]

Sasame[leaning over to Shikamaru]: I still don't understand how either Naruto or Karin have put on any weight, the way they eat they should be as big as Ch

Shikamaru[putting his hand over Sasame's mouth]: Do not say that unless you want to kill us all.

Choji[looking up]: What was that Shika?

Sasame[sweatdrops]: Uh… n-nothing Choji! I was… j-just saying that you guy… really eat fast!

Choji: Hmmph.

[one hour later, Kiba is passed out, face a little blue, Karin is panting heavily, trying to raise another bite to her mouth, ultimately failing. Naruto and Choji drop their chopsticks at the same time. Looking at each other's stack of plates.]

Naruto [breathing hard]: Wow! We tied! I consider that to be an achievement!

Choji [smiling wide]: You have my utmost respect Naruto. I think you should be an honorary Akimichi with that appetite.

[Shikamaru is snoring]

Hinata [very quietly]: I'm done too.

[next to her is a towering stack of plates, beating Choji and Naruto by a margin of 10]

Naruto and Choji [shocked]: HINATA?! HOW THE HELL…

[They both pass out as they recognize the winner, Hinata blushes like hell and giggles nervously.]

* * *

**A/N: So..? What did you think? I know I glossed over Jiraiya's history a bit and Naruto doesn't know it yet, and you're probably wondering, how come Naruto doesn't know who Jiraiya is even when he studied with Hinata? Answer is that he is just not interested in history unless its related to the Hokage. Essentially, he is kind of narrow-minded when it comes to things that interest him, hopefully with the introduction of Jiraiya and his j****ōnin sensei (still keeping you in the dark on this one heehee) he will learn to be more open-minded and more of a researcher. **

**I might take another chapter and talk more about my version of the technicalities of seals. I got a little time here but I didn't want to overwhelm you guys and poor Naruto with a technical engineering report. I think seals are pretty interesting and kind of remind me of circuits from back when I took physics in high school. **

**Anyways, what do you guys think teams will be? Will it be same sensei's and edited teams? Who is going to be the extra sensei? Will it still be three man squads? Who knows? (I do but that's beside the point)**


	5. Team Selections

**A/N: Guy's I'M SO SORRY FOR DELAYING THIS CHAPTER! I meant to get this out last week but midterms hit and I chose to study instead of write! I hope you understand. Also from now on I am writing chapters completely from scratch! So I will probably be about 3-5 weeks until the next chapter gets out! **

**In other news, I started Demon Slayer, ngl this is probably my one of my top three new gen animes, great art, killer opening theme, and well-timed comedy. Also Nezuko is literally the most precious thing in the world and we need to protect her at all costs. Also, unrelated but did you guys see the latest Boruto episode? I actually cried towards the end. Anyways, here's the chapter.**

**Bold **– Tailed Beast/Summon animals talking (i.e. Kurama, Gamabunta, etc…)

Underline – Jutsu Name

**Disclaimer: By the power invested in me, I tried to wish for rights to Naruto, never got em. I guess I'll just stick to writing fanfics for free entertainment then. **

* * *

Chapter 4: Team Selections

* * *

Hiruzen put down a stack of papers and sighed, teams were finally made. It had taken him a lot of time; he had called in four jōnin who would lead the most important teams for a briefing.

"Sensei, are you sure about those teams?"

Hiruzen turned around slowly, facing the tall white-haired Sannin crouching in his window and peeking over his shoulder.

"What's wrong with them Jiraiya? Don't tell me _you_ want to be a jōnin sensei, I already went through the trouble of getting Anko to be one."

* * *

_Hiruzen's office was a mess, several sheets of paper with the ninja registration ID of every jōnin in the village was on his desk. Due to the Academy's recent intake of students, a whole new team was needed and therefore another jonin was needed to be a sensei. _

_Finding available jōnin proved harder than he thought possible, almost every single jonin was either on duty or did not have the skills necessary to be a sensei. He was down to only one jonin and sighed, he could already predict her response. _

_"Dog, call Anko Mitarashi to my office immediately."_

_A shadow peeled itself from the wall and bowed in affirmation. The ANBU agent then disappeared in a swirl of leaves. _

_About an hour later, Anko strolled into the room with a smile on her face._

_"Hey Hokage-sama! What's up? Or did you call me here because you missed me?" She said with a smirk. _

_Hiruzen would have laughed if he wasn't anticipating her rage. "No, Anko, I actually wanted to call you here for another reason…"_

_If you had asked Naruto that day, he would have told you that he heard the screaming and cursing all the way from his apartment._

* * *

"No sensei, you know I'm much too busy for that, I came just to help you out a bit."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

Jiraiya got off the window and sat in front of his sensei, "Well, you see, I was kind of spying on Naruto and got to see what his classmates are like and how they interact with each other," he then pointed to the current paper that showed Team 7. "That team will be a disaster."

"Why? Kakashi is a very capable shinobi and would take good care of Naruto, plus he feels more comfortable with the son of his sensei with him."

Jiraiya shook his head, "That Uchiha boy, he's still controlled by an incredible rage, it seems like Naruto is the one who brings it out of him. That boy also has a massive ego problem and thinks he is the best. Based on how Naruto was with me, I think he might actually be a better student than that Uchiha brat." Jiraiya chuckled, "If Kakashi tries to teach them something, I'd say nine times out of ten, Naruto would pick it up quicker. Sasuke will most definitely be shocked by this and he'll feel inferior and with that huge of an ego I could see him falling into a meltdown."

Hiruzen took a breath in, "How is the boy's mental condition?"

"Well, I'm no Yamanaka, but from the intel I got from Itachi, Sasuke is probably one string away from snapping." Shaking his head ruefully, "I heard that Itachi used the Tsukuyomi to make him watch their parent's die several hundred thousand times."

Hiruzen winced and then sighed, "And what are your grievances with Kakashi then? Surely he is a good fit since the Yondaime was his sensei."

Jiraiya shook his head, "Sensei, as much as I respect Kakashi as an assassin and shinobi, he has never had a genin team and I don't think he will be much help, especially to Naruto." He chuckled to himself, "If you put that kid with a competent teacher, he will absorb absolutely anything and everything. I think he needs to be put with a sensei who will fill that role."

Jiraiya's face then hardened, "You also need to put him under someone who will take care of him, someone who is kindhearted and caring. He needs that in his life more than anyone. I know he has that aunt now, but she can't be with him everywhere."

Hiruzen held up a hand to stop his student from going on, "Thank you, Jiraiya, but I can't just change up teams for the benefit of one genin. There are eleven others who also need the best possible team."

Jiraiya smirked, "Okay then, let me point out another flaw, Team 8, Kurenai's team, having a team that is only dedicated to scouting is stupid, the only one on that team who has offensive skills is that Inuzuka boy and his jutsu is still wildly uncontrollable. It would benefit every team if they had at least one tracking specialist. The way teams should be structured is in a way that teammates cover for each other's weaknesses."

Hiruzen sighed and shoved the papers towards Jiraiya, "Well, then, you are now assigned to help me reassign these teams, and you will also be the one to break the news to each jōnin.

* * *

Naruto walked into a bustling classroom, conversations were excited, and the noise was almost unbearable. _Sakura-chan will totally fall for me now that I'm a ninja!_ He sat down and looked at the door, waiting for her to walk in.

She ran in, pushing Ino out of the way as Naruto got up, "Hey Saku.."

"Move it! I need to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" She said, pushing him to the ground. "Oh my goodness! There he is! I'm sitting next to him!" She shrieked as she ran over to him.

The rest of the fan club pushed and shoved over the seat next to him as Sasuke just continued to ignore them all. _They are all so annoying._ He thought to himself as he quietly moved the chair next to him away and out of sight.

Naruto was still sitting on the ground, dazed from Sakura's fist that had sent him into the wall. Rubbing his head he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Hinata asked kindly, helping him up.

"I think I am." He said, rubbing the sore spot on his head. "I just don't get what they all see in him! He's just an arrogant bastard and barely notices them! What makes him better than me?" Naruto pouted as he looked at them.

"Well… they um… just don't see how nice… and kind you are…" Hinata said, returning to her habit of poking her fingers together.

_She thinks I'm nice?_ "Wow thanks Hinata-chan! You sure are a great friend!"

Hinata took a breath, putting on a smile. She really wanted to be something more than just a friend to him. It pained her to hear that word, but she would never give it up if it meant not getting noticed by him again.

She really wanted to just tell him outright_ I love you._ But she couldn't bring herself to it, despite how much time she had spent with the blond shinobi, she still had a ways to go if she was ever going to let _that_ detail out in conversation_. Besides, he is still interested in Sakura-san, right?_

Naruto sat there, head resting on his crossed arms on the desk and thought. Something he rarely did was stay quiet like this. Hinata was worried she had said something wrong, but then he flashed a grin and said softly, "Thanks Hinata-chan, you are one of my first friends. That means a lot to me."

* * *

"How in the world did Naruto pass?"

"What the hell? He _what_?"

"Oh no! It's the end of the world if he passed!"

The Academy students mumbled amongst each other, looking at the orange-clad shinobi in wonder. Naruto just gave them his signature grin and readjusted his headband for them all to see.

"Well, you're taking this awfully well, somethings definitely up." Kiba said, sitting down near the two.

"Ah it's nothing, I don't really care what anyone says, I passed! That's all that matters!" Naruto laughed.

"You also passed in probably the most Naruto-like way too, surprised they didn't expel you for that." Shikamaru added, walking in with Choji.

Sasame and Karin then walked in together, Karin shot a glance towards Sasuke, but scrunched up her face in confusion. She shook her head and walked with Sasame over to where The rest of their friends were sitting.

Sasame looked at Kiba, who was staring off at something on the other side of the classroom, she tracked his line of sight and smirked, "What are _you _staring at Kiba?"

The Inuzuka jumped from the sudden attention as his face grew red and hot with embarrassment, "Uh… it's nothing!"

Akamaru barked and bit Kiba's ear, causing him to yelp. Sasame started laughing, "What's up with you and Tamaki-chan?"

Kiba's face grew even redder as his anger rose, "Nothing! I'm just reminding myself how I don't want her to be on my genin team! There's nothing I hate more than a damn ninja cat user!"

Karin spoke up, "Aww don't say that you two would be so cute together!"

"STOP THAT! NO WE WOULDN'T" Kiba howled, causing the rest to laugh as well.

Hinata was glad that she wasn't being put on the spot, if they were teasing her, she would have definitely fainted, she was already on edge, hoping to get on a team with Naruto, she didn't need the extra stress. It wouldn't look good on her to be unconscious as she met her jōnin sensei.

Iruka walked in a few seconds later and sighed at the increasingly loud class of his now former students. "All right class! Settle down! Settle down!" He rubbed his face, "and girls, please get off Sasuke." The class found their seats, Sakura and Ino sitting on either side of Sasuke, vying for his attention.

"Congratulations on graduating from the Academy! It is with great honor that you have received these Konoha forehead protectors and we hope that you wear them with pride as ninja from Konoha!" The class cheered a bit and talked animatedly amongst each other. Iruka held up a hand and silenced the class.

"Now that you are all genin, its time that we divide you up into three-man teams."

With that the class fell into murmurs.

_Three-man teams?_

_Oh I hope I get my friends!_

_I hope I get on the same team as Sasuke-kun! Cha!_

_Please put me on a team with Sakura-chan, AND DO NOT PUT ME WITH SASUKE!_

_I… hope I get on a team with Naruto-kun…_

_Ugh… troublesome…_

_Well, I already know they are gonna do Ino-Shika-Cho again, no real reason to get worked up._

_Ugh, I'm probably gonna be stuck with Shikamaru and Choji, dammit! Billboard Brow is gonna get Sasuke-kun!_

Iruka silenced the class again and began announcing the teams, one by one, fangirls cried out, separated from their precious Sasuke-kun. Then there were only nine genin left in the room.

"Team 10, Yamanaka Ino… Nara Shikamaru… and Akimichi Choji!"

Ino rolled her eyes in disgust, "It's okay Sasuke-kun, I'll still spend time with you when I'm not on missions."

"Stay away Ino-pig! He's mine!"

Ino just scoffed and went to join her team.

"Team 9, Tamaki… Uzumaki Karin… Inuzuka Kiba!"

Kiba turned red as all his friends laughed at him, Karin especially, "I'll update you guys if any _special moments_ happen between these two!"

"The only special moment that will happen is you dying!" Kiba growled.

"Team 8, Hyūga Hinata… Fūma Sasame… Uzumaki Naruto!"

Hinata gasped as time seemed to slow down to a halt around her. Did she hear Iruka-sensei right?

_Team 8, Hyūga Hinata, Fūma Sasame, Uzumaki Naruto_

_Team 8, Hyūga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto_

_Hyūga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto_

The sudden realization sent cracks through her sanity and set a massive shock to he nerves, completely frying them. As such, she wasn't aware of Sasame and Naruto talking to her about the new team. She was only aware of her being on a team with Naruto.

She couldn't help it but her mind was flicking through the upcoming weeks, her getting closer to him and eventually, maybe, the two becoming a couple, fighting side by side, hand in hand…

It was all she could take, and her lights went out.

* * *

"Huh, Hinata must be pretty tired, its cool that we all got on the same team though" Naruto said, turning to Sasame, who was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, totally great!" She said, stifling a giggle. _How can someone be this blockheaded?!_

"Team 7, Aburame Shino… Haruno Sakura… Uchiha Sasuke!"

"CHA! TAKE THAT INO-PIG!" Sakura yelled at the top of her lungs.

Shino took one look at both his teammates and sighed, here he was, on the verge of being forgotten between one of the most obnoxious girls in the class and the class genius. _It seems that being forgotten is just how the Aburame are, that's because…_

His thoughts were cut off by Ino and Sakura screaming at each other over who got the 'rights' to Sasuke's attention. The Uchiha boy's face looked like someone was driving kunai through his ears.

"All right! Settle down! Now, I want all of you to wait patiently while your jōnin senseis make their way here." _Kakashi please don't be late, for your team's sake._

With that, Iruka walked out of the room and the class broke out in full conversation, one by one, jōnin showed up and pulled their teams out of the room. After about thirty minutes, only teams 7, 8, 9, and 10 remained.

"Jeez, I wish our sensei would show up already, what's taking them so long?" Kiba asked gruffly, Akamaru yipping in agreement.

"Three large chakra signatures are coming!" Karin gasped. The rest of the now genin sat up a bit straighter in their seats.

In walked a tall man with spiky black hair, he smelled very much like cigarettes and ash. His attire was like most jōnin, consisting of the green flak jacket and black athletic pants. The only deviation was the white sash around his waist with the kanji for 'Fire' embroidered on.

"That guy looks like a cool sensei! I wonder if he's our sensei?" Naruto whispered to the now awake Hinata, she couldn't tell him that she already knew who their jōnin sensei would be, since Kurenai came by the Hyūga compound to get permission from her father, as was custom.

She had never in her life felt more pain, when her father called her weak and of no use to the Hyūga clan. She knew she was weak, she knew she wasn't a typical Hyūga, but couldn't her father see that she was trying her hardest to be better?

It didn't help that Hanabi was becoming a bit of a prodigy in the Gentle Fist, all eyes were on the younger sister and the clan pretty much threw Hinata off to the side like some child's unwanted toy.

Hinata was torn between her grief and her happiness for her younger sister. She always knew that Hanabi would be strong. It made her proud that her younger sister was doing so well. Ironically it came at her own expense but that didn't matter to Hinata.

As Naruto spoke to her, she gave him a sideways glance, not something unusual, she had always been trying to sneak glances at him when she was sure no-one was looking. Using the Byakugan was a dead giveaway so she had to be extra careful.

Seeing him gave her a sense of strength, he was always trying his hardest. Even when she thought he would give out from the pain and stress, he kept pushing forward, never letting up. He pushed himself hard for the same reasons she did. Yes, his ambitions were quite a lot larger than her's but the principle was the same. They both wanted recognition for their strength. With newfound determination, Hinata sat up a little straighter in her chair.

"My name is Asuma Sarutobi, I am the jōnin sensei for Team 10. You guys are coming with me." He said as he pointed to Ino, Shikamaru and Choji.

Ino got up and winked at Sasuke, much to Sakura's annoyance, as she trotted towards the front of the room. Shikamaru and Choji just slinked down, trying not to get Ino's attention, there was still a bit of tension between them since the Valentine's day prank.

"Aw man, I guess he's not ours." Naruto said as he slumped back into his chair.

The next person who walked in caught Naruto's attention.

"Hey, I remember you!" He said as he pointed towards the woman who just walked in.

She just smiled and looked towards her students who were already sitting next to each other. "Ah yes, that's right, thanks again for helping me out that day."

Hinata looked at Naruto, "Naruto-kun, how… do you already know Kurenai-sensei?"

Naruto looked back at her and grinned, "I could ask you the same thing dattebayo!"

Hinata turned red and fidgeted with her hands while trying to stammer out an explanation when Kurenai interrupted her.

"Yes, my name is Kurenai Yuhi and I will be the sensei of Team 8, now if you would come wit- "

The window exploded and shards of glass rained down on Sasuke and Sakura who promptly screamed, until she looked down and saw that Sasuke had grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from the window just in time. Now it was _her _turn to turn red.

A banner sprawled across the room, in huge letters was written, "World's Number One Bestest Jōnin Sensei: Anko Mitarashi!"

At it's base was a woman dressed in a trench coat and not much else. She had dark purple hair that was pulled up in a ponytail.

"What the hell Anko-oba? Why'd you have to break the glass?" Naruto got up and yelled.

Anko's face turned dark and her eyes started glowing. Both Naruto and Kurenai gulped.

"What did I tell you about calling me Oba, Otouto?" She said in a sickly, sweet voice.

"S-S-S-Sorry n-n-neesan.." Naruto muttered out.

The change was immediate as Anko put back a smirk on her face.

"Well maggots! My name is Anko Mitarashi and I will be the sensei of Team 9! We will have just the greatest time!" She said, eyeing her genin sadistically.

Karin turned to Naruto and looked at him confusedly, "You have another sister?"

Naruto looked down and scratched his head, "Uhh… it's complicated."

Anko immediately appeared next to Naruto with a kunai at his throat, "You didn't talk about me to your friends? I'm hurt Otouto. After all this you better introduce me to everyone of them, you hear me?"

Naruto's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, "y-y-yes ma'am" He yelped when the kunai came closer to cutting his jugular, "I-I meant neesan!"

"Um, Anko? You kind of interrupted me," Kurenai said, peeking out from behind the banner.

Anko turned around and chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head, "Oh, sorry 'bout that Kurenai." She then turned towards the class, "Team 9! Come with me!" And waltzed out of the room, Kiba, Karin, and Tamaki in tow.

Naruto whispered a prayer for his _other_ neesan and Kiba to protect them from whatever hell Anko would put them through. He got up along with Hinata and Sasame and followed Kurenai out the door, leaving the last three genin in the room for what would be two hours of annoyance for both Sasuke and Shino.

* * *

Kurenai turned to face her genin and gave each of them a quick once-over. Hinata was familiar to her, but something was different about her. She didn't look to be the ashamed, timid little girl that she had seen a few days ago. Something about her posture gave off an aura of calmness and intent focus. Kurenai couldn't make head's or tails of it so she brought her attention to the other students.

Sasame was a bit of an outlier and as much as she hated it, she had actually asked Jiraiya about her to get some idea of what she was like. She knew that the three were friends, but she knew much more about Hinata and Naruto than she did Sasame. From his report, excluding all the details about the girl being a 'real future beauty' and the likes of that, Jiraiya had noted that the girl took her duties seriously, although it was tough to see what her goal was. The girl was amicable and willing to work in a team to get goals accomplished. Kurenai appreciated this, they would probably not have to focus too much on teambuilding but that would be decided later.

She then turned and took a look at Naruto who was making a ridiculous face and mocking the Inuzuka boy, making Hinata and Sasame laugh. She knew very well about him; the boy's name was in everyone's mouths. She had heard countless complaints about the boy and wondered if they were ever true. When she met him by the hot springs, she saw the absolute fear come into his eyes when he had realized his transformation had been dispelled.

She could piece together that, from the years of abuse, the boy was probably very afraid of being himself when addressing others, most likely in fear of them giving him misleading instructions.

According to Jiraiya, the boy could make shadow clones, which was incredible for someone his age. The boy was also a budding fūinjutsu user, but he seemed to favor ninjutsu. This was not surprising, given the boy's chakra capacity. Hiruzen had briefed her on his jinchuriki status before finalizing the teams.

* * *

_"You asked to see me, Hokage-sama?"_

_Sarutobi turned around in his chair to face Kurenai, putting out his pipe and setting it down. _

_"Yes, as a matter of fact it is very important and concerns the safety of this very village."_

_Kurenai's heart beat fast, what could it be? She only recently became jōnin, surely someone else must be more qualified for something so serious. Was it an intruder she needed to find and eliminate? A foreign threat? An impending war? _

_"It concerns a certain person on your genin team, Naruto Uzumaki. I'm sure that you may have already heard that he is the jinchuriki of the Kyūbi." _

_Kurenai nodded, the rumors circling around about the boy had turned out to be true. Years ago, she wasn't sure how to feel about the boy being the container of the Bijū. She remembered very clearly the day her father and mother died, when the Kyūbi attacked. To think that the beast lived inside a weak, young boy was terrifying to say the least. Despite knowing the Yondaime's unrivalled skill in fūinjutsu, the fact remained that the 35-ton fox was trapped inside a boy that was no bigger than a large dog. _

_However, being friends with Anko, she knew just how much a cursed mark could destroy someone's reputation. The two had tried to go shopping many times, only for Anko to be unfairly kicked out. On one of their trips, Kurenai released just a little bit of killing intent to the shopkeeper and ended up getting a massive discount on their purchase. _

_Anko reminded her a lot of Naruto, they both were rambunctious, take-no-shit-from-anyone type of people. She knew firsthand just how mentally strong Anko was, she was constantly fighting the urge to kill and lash out from the cursed seal that Orochimaru had infected her with. Because of this, Kurenai had no doubt that Naruto would be strong too. _

_"Yes, Sandaime-sama, I am aware. Don't worry, I am okay with this."_

_Hiruzen nodded, "That's good. I just want to emphasize the importance of keeping the boy safe. Many of the elders of this village do not want him to be a shinobi, since his duties will take him outside of the village and put him in danger. It will be your duty to protect him if he cannot protect himself."_

_Kurenai nodded in understanding, "I promise to do my very best, will that be all Hokage-sama?"_

_Hiruzen stood and turned to gaze out onto the Great Stone Faces. "On a more personal note, Kurenai, please, the boy needs emotional support, he has been at the receiving end of a lot of abuse and he needs precious people to keep him sane. That is the reason I chose you to be his sensei, I know that you are kindhearted and possess good judgement. That will be all, you are dismissed."_

_Kurenai bowed deeply, "I am honored for the praise Hokage-sama." She turned and left the room. _

* * *

"Well, I have already told you my name but let me tell me more about myself," Kurenai started, getting the genins' attention. "My name is Kurenai Yuhi, I like gardening and eating dinner with friends, my inspiration is Tsunade Senju because my goal is to prove to everyone that women can be capable shinobi too." She finished, turning to look at Sasame. "Now I want you guys to introduce yourselves, say your name, what you like, your inspiration and your goal. You can go first miss."

Sasame cleared her throat, "Well, seems like these two know you already so I guess I'm really the only one who needs introducing. My name is Sasame Fūma and I like to read and train. My inspiration is my cousin Arashi and my goal is to be as good as he is with the Fūma clan jutsu."

Kurenai nodded, _it's not much, but it's a start._ She turned and nodded to Hinata.

"My name is Hinata Hyūga and well… I lo-like…" immediately the girl lost composure and turned red as she gave Naruto a sideways glance. Both Kurenai and Sasame resisted to burst out with laughter while Naruto was wondering what was wrong. _It's much too obvious, this is worse than I was with Asuma!_

Eventually getting herself under control, Hinata continued, "I like cinnamon rolls and zenzai. My inspiration is…" She paused again, thinking of what to say as Kurenai thought to herself. _He's her inspiration to be better? No wonder Hiruzen put them together then, I wonder what Hiashi would say about this… _

"Someone who works hard and never gives up, and my goal is to be a strong shinobi of the Hyūga clan."

Kurenai then turned to the only male member present, "Well, uh… I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like eating ramen! Ichiraku's especially, but instant ramen is good too! I really like miso ramen with barbeque pork!"

"Okay Naruto, what about your inspiration and goal?" Kurenai interjected, hoping to bring his line of thought back on track.

"Oh yeah, well, my inspiration is all the Hokage's who come before me!" He put a thumb to his chest, "Because my goal is to be Hokage! That way everyone will respect me!"

_Hmm, interesting. I wonder what would make him want to lead the village? I hope it's not because he wants to take revenge, no… he doesn't seem like that kind of person._

"All right, that's good, and now we will conduct the real genin exam."

"HUH?!" The three shouted in unison.

"Yes, to really be genin, you must pass this exam, otherwise, I can send you back to the Academy if I think you aren't ready." Kurenai said, taking in some satisfaction from their suffering, Anko was really rubbing off on her.

She then stood up and lead them to the nearest training ground, the whole way Naruto was grumbling about not being aware of this and complaining that it was unfair. Kurenai then turned to face them,

"Your objective is to corner me and force me to surrender, please, use any means necessary, we will begin when you're read-"

"HYAAAHH!" Naruto sprinted out with a fist cocked back, ready to throw a haymaker punch. His outburst ended up startling Hinata and Sasame as the two girls jumped in place and stared incredulously at the spot their teammate had just vanished from.

Hinata activated her Byakugan so that she could help but gasped at what she saw. "No! Naruto-kun! Wait!"

But the warning came too late, as Naruto threw his fist into Kurenai's face, a sickening thud of flesh against wood came out as Naruto ended up punching a tree.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!" He hissed, grabbing his now red knuckles as Kurenai appeared in a shimmer on a tree branch above him.

"I guess the Academy just lets anyone pass these days, that was pitiful" Kurenai mocked from above, in her heart she only wanted to rile them all up to see how they would react with their emotions all wound up.

"SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU!" Naruto yelled back, tick mark on his forehead. He pointed to his headband, "I worked hard for this, and I'll prove it by stopping you!"

He quickly disappeared in an orange blur as he raced up the tree, climbing from branch to branch with surprising speed.

However, Kurenai was a jōnin, and was still much faster than the boy. _Well, no time like the present to test his taijutsu._ Kurenai thought, she leapt off the branch she was on moments before Naruto came crashing down and led him deeper into the training ground towards a clearing.

Sasame turned to Hinata, who was watching with worry. She sighed, "Why do I get a bad feeling about this?"

Then the two turned and ran to catch up with their teammate and sensei.

* * *

_I think this will do_. Kurenai thought as she stopped in a clearing, she could hear her student crashing through the trees nearby and soon enough, he appeared in the clearing and locked his eyes on her.

"Well, at least you can keep up, now let's see if you can force me to be taken down." Kurenai said, adopting a fighting stance. Naruto did the same as he settled into the basic taijutsu stance taught at the Academy. He lashed out at her with his left fist, quickly followed by a front kick from his right foot.

Kurenai dodged his fist and sidestepped the kick and got ready to counterattack when Naruto used his heel as a pivot point and swung his right leg at her again, forcing her back. _He's not attacking with much focus but he is keeping me on my toes._ She noted.

With lightning speed Kurenai ran towards him and feinted with a left hook aimed straight at Naruto's head. He instinctively raised his hands to guard his face, which Kurenai took advantage of as her right leg flew out in a snap kick and hit Naruto directly in the midsection, knocking him to the ground and leaving him breathless.

Kurenai then raced forward, grabbed his knees and stepped over him into his guard, using her legs, she pulled Naruto up by his legs and threw him a short distance away, him landing face first In the dirt.

"I forgot how much fun it is fighting genin, you don't weigh too much so it's easy to throw you." Kurenai said absentmindedly.

Naruto, who was a little dazed, shook his head to clear it and jumped right back up onto his feet. He settled in the same stance again and rushed Kurenai, once again. This time, he threw a punch with his right hand aiming at Kurenai's midsection, then quickly used his momentum to sweep with his legs, causing her to jump up.

Kurenai mentally nodded, _good, at least you learn from your mistakes, but sorry Naruto, I'm not spending all of this time on you. _

Naruto rolled underneath what he thought was Kurenai and put his weight on his hands as he kicked out towards her back, only to hit a tree again. He jolted up wildly and looked around, "What the hell? Where did she go?"

* * *

Hinata and Sasame ran through the forest, trying to make their way to the clearing in the distance. Sasame looked over at Hinata, who had her Byakugan off to conserve her chakra.

"How far are they?" She asked.

Hinata activated her Byakugan, veins bulging around her eyes. Sasame always found it kind of creepy, the way such a kind girl could look so terrifying in an instant.

Hinata's face screwed up in confusion. "They didn't seem to get closer, I could have sworn that they stopped a while ago."

Sasame scratched her chin, "Do you think that Naruto forced her to run a little farther?"

Hinata shook her head, "As strong as I know Naruto-kun is, he doesn't stand a chance against a jōnin, there is too big of a skill difference, we all need to work together if we want to stand a chance. We will need both your and Naruto's skills to make her surrender."

Sasame nodded and they both continued running, suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to face Hinata who had just gasped and come to a halt.

"What is it? Is she nearby?"

Hinata's face looked sad, almost, disappointed. "Maybe, I'm not sure…"

Sasame's eyes flared, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hinata winced from the question and poked her fingers together, "I didn't realize we've been in a genjutsu this whole time."

Sasame's eyes widened, "A genjutsu? But how come you didn't see it earlier?"

Hinata looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide forever, she was a Hyūga and just got caught in a genjutsu! If her father heard about this he would be even more disappointed in her, he would see yet again that she was weak, not worthy of the Hyūga name.

"B-Because I.." Hinata started, only to get interrupted by Sasame receiving a flying kick from Kurenai.

"Because I am the strongest genjutsu user in Konoha." Kurenai finished, hoping to retain some of the young girl's confidence. She needed to have a serious discussion with Hinata about her habits of self-doubt, but she couldn't fully erase twelve years of abuse.

"If you think that I am just going to let you go and retrieve Naruto then you're wrong." She said, settling into a fighting stance, "I am your opponent now."

Kurenai then threw a kick at Sasame, who blocked it with her forearms. Hinata was snapped from her daze and instinctively rushed to her teammate's aid, only to get kicked in the back as Kurenai appeared from thin air. Hinata hit the ground and rolled up onto her feet and faced her instructor who had a kunai in her hand.

"I know your family's fighting style very well Hinata, I know to keep my distance." Kurenai noted.

"Well then, try to keep your distance like this!" Sasame shouted and thrust her hands out.

Thin lines of chakra shot out from her fingertips and arced their way towards Kurenai who hopped and dodged to avoid getting grabbed. Hinata decided to take the opportunity of Kurenai's divided attention to land an attack on her. As she jumped into the fray Kurenai took notice and quickly made some hand seals.

"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!"

Suddenly Hinata was encased in a tree and couldn't move her arms or legs. She gathered her chakra to break the genjutsu, but it was all that Kurenai needed to bind Sasame.

"Demonic Illusion: String Bean Binding Jutsu!"

In an instant, Kurenai melted into vines just as Sasame's chakra threads wrapped around her. The auburn-haired kunoichi looked down and gasped as her feet were now wrapped in vines. _Is this and Dōton justu? How can I break it?_ She struggled for freedom and, to Hinata's horror, didn't notice a bean pod opening behind her to reveal Kurenai inside, kunai in hand and ready to take Sasame out.

Faster than she could think Hinata rushed over to Sasame and sent a pulse of chakra through her system, undoing the genjutsu and revealing Kurenai in the air flying down on them.

There was almost no time to react. Kurenai was mere seconds away from taking the two of them out and then eventually failing them all. In Hinata's mind, the thought of Naruto flashed through. If they failed now, he would be kept from becoming Hokage! His dream would be ruined because she didn't do anything about it.

Newfound determination and adrenaline kicked in and Hinata grabbed Sasame and somersaulting away while throwing a smoke bomb down to cover their escape. Kurenai coughed as she hopped out of the smoke and searched for her students. They had all but vanished.

"Alright you are good at hiding, now it's time to find you guys and flush you out.'

* * *

Naruto was hopping from tree branch to tree branch when he looked down at what seemed like a glowing thread.

"Huh, that's weird, I didn't kno- AHHHH!" He screamed at the thread wrapped itself around him and dragged him underneath a nearby bush, where Sasame promptly slapped her hand on his mouth to keep him quiet.

"Shut up! Sensei will hear you!"

Naruto immediately stopped struggling as his eyes narrowed. "You could have just brought me here like a normal person, no need to capture me like that! Sometimes I wonder if we're on the same team here."

Sasame looked at him as a tick mark formed on her forehead, "Says the baka that charged head on without even asking us!"

"Both of you need to stop fighting if we want to pass," Hinata said, making herself heard. The other two turned to face her and muttered apologies.

"I told Sasame-san earlier but I think we all need to work together, Kurenai-sensei is much to skilled for one of us to take down." Naruto nodded in understanding.

"I guess you're right, sorry about going off by myself." Naruto apologized to Sasame.

Hinata then turned to face Naruto, her heart was beating hard, being this close to him. The bush was a tight squeeze for the three, despite all of them being relatively short for their age. Due to this, Hinata was _very_ close to Naruto and could feel his breath on her shoulder. It took all her willpower to not faint in such an important situation.

"Naruto, do you have any ideas of how we can capture sensei?" Sasame broke the silence, giving Hinata a bit of a reprieve.

Naruto scratched his chin in thought. "Well, she's fast, faster than any of us, so we probably need to trap her."

Sasame shook her head, "We just tried that, but she is a really strong genjutsu user and will just trap us in a genjutsu if we get too close of if things start to head south for her. Sensei is too smart to get trapped."

"Ugh, damn, that sucks." Naruto said, looking through his pouches to take stock when something caught his eye. He still had created some seals with Jiraiya, his thoughts flashed back to his days of training.

* * *

_"So Naruto, now that you've learned the basics, what do you think is a weakness of being a fūinjutsu user?" Jiraiya asked him as they lay on the grass watching the clouds pass by. _

_The day had been tough on Naruto, he had learned the Four Corner Teal Barrier, a relatively weak seal compared to its father and mother seals, the Four Crimson Ray Formation and the Four Violet Flame Formation. But this seal didn't require as much chakra and could be performed by a team of four shinobi. _

_Naruto however, trained by using shadow clones as the four points of anchoring. Despite his large reserves, maintaining the seal took a toll on him, since his control still wasn't the greatest. Jiraiya assured him that with time and training Naruto would probably be able to perform the Four Violet Flames Formation all by himself. The thought just made him giddy with excitement. _

_The days of training had also birthed a newfound respect for fūinjutsu in Naruto. Jiraiya had shown him some of the seals a sealmaster could perform and his displays had Naruto starry eyed and giggling like a small child. It seemed that nothing could be stronger than this ninja art. _

_"Ha, that's a trick question! There are no downsides!" Naruto said happily as a frog-shaped cloud floated by. _

_In a split second, Jiraiya's fist buried itself into his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. As he regained his breath he looked angrily at his teacher who was looking back with the same amount of rage. _

_"Just how thickheaded are you? After writing seals for this long you still think there are no weaknesses!" H angrily shouted. _

_"I don't know about fūinjutsu I know that you have weaknesses!" Naruto called out, disappearing in a poof of smoke, "Oooh please Jiraiya, don't be so tough on me… I'm so fragile" A naked female called out to a now mumbling mess that used to be Jiraiya. _

_Again the smoke exploded and revealed an annoyed looking Naruto, "Okay ero-sennin, now that you're all cooled off, maybe you could tell me what I should know about fūinjutsu."_

_Jiraiya shook his head and wiped his now bloody nose. "Once again, don't call me that, but, if you really want to know, think about it," He said, gesturing to the pens and paper strewn about, "How long did it take you to write the tags for the seal?"_

_Naruto scratched his head. At first, when he was learning the seal, it would take him about ten minutes to fully create all four anchor points. Now he could whip up all four within two minutes. The more he thought about it, the more it clicked. _

_"It takes too long to make?" He said hesitantly, worried he might get the answer wrong again. _

_Jiraiya rolled his eyes and nodded, "Basically had to spell it out for you huh. Well yes, at this point, most seals you make will take much too long to create to actually be useful in battle. There are techniques that can create instantaneous seals but that will come later, when I think you're ready." He said as Naruto tried to interrupt and demand to be taught this new skill. _

_"As a fūinjutsu user, you will usually not bring a lot of supplies with you since they'll just slow you down, but you still bring them in case you need to make more while you are in safety. In battle you will probably not find enough time to create these seals, especially if you face strong opponents." Jiraiya said, reliving his past battles and several times when he had gone in unprepared. "That's why it's important for you to make some seals ahead of time, based on what your mission is, those pre-made seals will be different, but for now, I want you to create at least six exploding tags, four flash seals, and one barrier seal." _

_Naruto gave him a mock salute and a wide grin, "Yes sir ero-sennin!" earning a grumble from Jiraiya._

* * *

Kurenai was walking through the woods on the edge of the clearing. She knelt down and felt the dirt underneath her. It was soft, in comparison to most of the hard ground nearby. Someone had been here recently. She could use her chakra and mold it to allow her to sense their chakra signatures, but they were only genin, besides, she enjoyed old school tracking every now and then.

Snapped twigs and fallen leaves led her to a bush that could be big enough to hide her students. She called out, "Technically, it's supposed to be you finding me but I'll let that slide if you can capture me now."

A whistling of kunai alerted her as she turned and saw several of the blades flying towards her. A shocked look came on her face when she saw some tags ablaze among the flying metal. She pushed chakra into her legs and jumped up into the tree above to avoid the subsequent explosion. From the trees around her appeared her students. She dropped back into the clearing to face the three.

"Well, it seems that Naruto wants to work with the team now hmm?" She said, "Well that's fine by me, we'll see if it can make a difference."

Naruto just smirked, "Oh you have no idea what we have planned for you!" Making a cross seal, he made Kurenai audibly gasp.

Fifty clones appeared in the forest around her and as one they charged her. In a flurry of fists, legs and orange. There was a speck of red and white where Kurenai was moving faster than the eye could track, _How many clones can he make? The sheer amount of chakra he has is just incredible! _

She was channeling chakra into the clones, altering their perception of her position slightly so that she could take them out easier.

Hinata signaled to Sasame who nodded in understanding, the two Kunoichi then threw another volley of Kunai each. Some of them had tags on them that started to burn up. Kurenai's eyes widened as she rolled back to avoid the explosion, she was sure would come. However, all that happened was and awful ringing in her ears as several flash seals went off. She ignored the pain and rushed towards Naruto who was rummaging around in his pack, looking for something.

Just as she was about to reach him, familiar blue chakra threads appeared in front of her and forced her to handspring backwards. She turned and looked towards Sasame approvingly. _Very good, it seems like they have a plan in place. _She then jumped up into the air as Hinata struck the air with an open palm. Kurenai landed behind Hinata who spun around and thrust again with her arms.

Kurenai knew better than to try and counterattack. Against the Gentle Fist, even glancing blows could be painful at best. She had to make a genjutsu that could get past the Byakugan. Usually this was occurred by layering several genjutsus onto each other in order to make illusions seem true. She started to slowly probe Hinata's chakra system and gradually introduce her chakra, however, just as her initial genjutsu was about to take hold, she felt it shatter to pieces.

Had she made a mistake? Or was Hinata on very high alert since falling prey to it before? _Her perception with the Byakugan must be better than she gives herself credit for. _Kurenai then looked towards her blond-haired student, _it seems like my hunch was right._

Kurenai then used her speed to escape the close quarters battle with Hinata and threw back kunai, forcing the young girl to leap back to avoid getting hit.

As soon as she dealt with one student, another was making themselves known. Sasame, once again attacked her with threads as Kurenai leaped and dodged through the laser lightshow.

However, keeping the strings up was a taxing duty and Sasame was sweating heavily. _I can only manage to do this for a little bit longer! But I have to do my part!_ She turned to Naruto who was next to her in the tree branch.

"Are you ready yet?"

"I dunno, I'm just a clone" The Naruto next to her said, shrugging.

Sasame would have shivered if she wasn't so focused on pushing their sensei, they were vulnerable now since Hinata wasn't nearby to let them know of a genjutsu so Sasame also had her senses on high alert.

"Well, go to the original and ask him to get on it!" She shouted.

The clone was about to speak when he was suddenly dispelled. Kurenai heard another whistling of kunai and turned to see Naruto throw some kunai with sealing tags on them, however, none of them were aimed at her.

She once again jumped up as the kunai embedded themselves in the dirt a few feet behind her. She didn't dare look as her ears were filled with the ringing of the flash seals. On her way down she saw four Naruto's come out of the forest around her, hands placed on the ground as complex kanji covered the earth below her.

Too late.

As soon as she saw it the barrier went up and she was trapped. Her genin had done it.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. In all honestly, she was proud of them for what they just did, albeit against an enemy that wasn't trying to kill them. Still, their teamwork was good, definitely not too much of a worry.

She looked around to inspect the barrier. It was a light blueish-green color, signifying that it was a weak barrier, still, for a mere genin to be able to hold up such a barrier by himself was impressive. Embedded in the seal were safeguards against ninjutsu-aided escape. Such a barrier was only broken by physical force or when the user got too tired.

Naruto smirked as he looked towards his sensei, "Well sensei, do they still let just anybody pass the Academy now?"

Kurenai just laughed and looked at the three students standing side by side, all smiling with pride. She too was proud of them, in sort of an elder-sister way. The skills they all had hidden within them were impressive, she just needed to work on getting them to show them more.

Sasame had shown surprising resolve, despite being caught in the genjutsu before, she had watched herself this time and safeguarded herself from some of the weaker genjutsu Kurenai tried to put on her. The girl also had a respectable stamina, to be able to maintain a state of total awareness while manipulating the chakra threads clearly took a lot out of her. Overall, she had the makings of a strong shinobi.

Hinata was also just as surprising. Given the Byakugan was pretty much a lie detector for genjutsu, that wouldn't be much of a surprise. What was a surprise was her acute perception that allowed her to detect even the smallest traces of foreign chakra. Kurenai was sure that Hinata didn't realize her gift because of her confidence issues, however, when motivated, Hinata really shone through.

Naruto was the most surprising of the three. Given his track record at the Academy, Kurenai was sure that the boy wouldn't be much, despite him knowing the Shadow Clone Jutsu and knowing fūinjutsu. She just couldn't see how he could be as strong as some of his classmates. The boy showed surprising resourcefulness and memory when fighting her one on one. He was more perceptive than most people gave him credit for.

"Well, yes they do," Kurenai said, causing her team's heads to droop, "But it seems like they did good by letting you guys graduate." Instantly the whole team's faces brightened. Sasame smiled softly as Naruto's grin threatened to push his whiskers off his face and Hinata blushed and looked towards the ground.

"Well, take this barrier down and we can go get some lunch. Any suggestions?" Kurenai asked,

As soon as Naruto opened his mouth, Sasame spoke up, "Well I think you know some good restaurant since you said you like to eat with your friends so maybe you should decide sensei!" Naruto's head drooped in disappointment as Hinata tried to comfort him awkwardly, saying something about having variety.

Kurenai smiled at the display, she couldn't have asked for a sweeter team.

* * *

**A/N: A little shorter chapter, this was put together in a short time because I felt bad for saying I would get this out last week and then delaying it twice. What do you think of the teams? Did you expect them? My justifications are below, **

**Team 10: Ino-Shika-Cho**

**self explanatory lol**

**Team 9: Karin, Tamaki, Kiba**

**I kind of wanted to put Tamaki and Kiba together since they clash a lot but definitely have skills that could help each other out. I know Tamaki isn't mentioned much in the anime so her abilities are kind of unknown. I don't want to spoil too much but she's a cat user, so yeah... I'll let you think about that. Kiba is a good offensive powerhouse, he is clearly the tank here. And Karin is this team's sensory specialist. **

**Team 8: Naruto, Hinata, Sasame**

**So this team is the one with our main characters. I put Hinata and Sasame together since I noticed that in the original Team 8, Hinata was pretty much screwed against fast enemies since there was no-one on the team with the capabilities to ensnare their opponent. You could argue Shino but in my knowledge, he never used his kikachu in that way. Naruto is with them since he provides a lot of offensive strength and defense through fūinjutsu. **

**Team 7: Sasuke, Sakura, Shino**

**This team has Sasuke, who is the main offense here, he's got the Uchiha signature jutsu and it very skilled at shuriken jutsu. Sakura is smart and good at making plans on the spot, perfect as a strategist. Shino is also a strong stealth fighter as well as having the ability to help them retreat in case they need to. **

**I think my teams are pretty balanced but what about you? Also I think I suck at writing fight scenes, how was this chapter?**


End file.
